When the Lord Wants to Use a Man

The circumstances attending the conversion of the young man Charles Spurgeon were quite extraordinary. He went one Sunday morning during a snowstorm to the wrong church to hear a sermon from a poorly educated man preaching in the place of the appointed preacher who failed to turn up. Spurgeon would not have chosen such a church as the Primitive Methodist Church to attend, nor would he have willingly listened to a poor illiterate man preach, but the sovereign Lord had other ideas.

Charles Spurgeon had come from a good heritage of the Spurgeon line and his grandfather was James Spurgeon, a minister of the Gospel. Charles's own father was also a preacher of the Gospel. And Charles had a godly mother who prayed earnestly for her eldest son Charles to be saved in Christ. This mother was very much like Monica, the mother of Augustine of old, also like Susannah Wesley who prayed and counselled her children in the ways of God. But even though Charles Spurgeon had read his grandfather's Puritan books in the library, he was resistant to the Gospel. It would take a sovereign God to bring the horse to water and have him drink.

So it was that Charles as a lad of 15 or so listened to the direct preaching of a simple preacher who could not speak the Queen's English. The text was from Isaiah 45:22 - "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." The preacher pointed to the young man Charles saying, "Young man, you look miserable. Look to Christ. Just look and look at Him and nothing else!" Words to this effect. It took a Primitive Methodist preacher to be so boldly direct and personal. But God's arrow found its mark.

Spurgeon testified later that he looked to Jesus with all his might, and was saved that morning.

Spurgeon went on to become the Boy Preacher of London and in due time "The Prince of Preachers" (as he is called in a Christian Radio Broadcaster). He became a mighty man of God in the nineteenth century Britain. His sermons are still read and heard even today.

Andrew Loh.

Short Dance Video: Ballet on How Great is our God

If you had only 3 Verses of Scripture

If you were like Robinson Crusoe on a desert island alone and had the chance to be given only 3 verses of the Bible, what would you choose?

What are the 3 verses of Scripture that contain the gist of God's offer of eternal life through the death of Christ?

ROMANS 3: 24-26

"BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY GOD'S GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS; WHOM GOD HAS SET FORTH AS A PROPITIATION THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD, TO DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH THE PASSING BY OF THE SINS WHICH HAD TAKEN PLACE BEFORE, IN THE FOREBEARANCE OF GOD; FOR THE DISPLAY OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AT THIS TIME, FOR HIM TO BE JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF ANYONE EXERCISING FAITH IN JESUS."

These 3 verses contain the heart of the message of Justification by Faith in Christ, explaining why and how God had to send His Son to die on the Cross as a substitute for whosoever chooses to trust Christ. By Jesus paying the penalty for the sin of the sinner, any voice of protest by Satan or anyone else in the Universe is silenced once and for all time. God is righteous and just in character and in His deed when He declares the believing sinner guiltless because the Sin-Bearer has borne the judgment for his sin. God is both righteous (just) and the justifier (declares the sinner righteous in Christ) of the believer in Jesus.

This is the core of the Gospel of the grace of God.

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Hava Nagila is an all-time favourite folk song in Israel.

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God's Sovereign Hand in Reforming England

Pictures from Left: Henry VIII (with six wives); Queen Ezliabeth 1; Boy King Edward VI. Cardinal Thomas Cranmer last.

The story of the Reformation of England is one where we can see the hidden hand of God's sovereignty at work in the lives of people. King Henry VIII in the 16th century was a thorough Roman Catholic and married the Catherine of Aragon of Spain, a Catholic princess. She produced no male heir for him, and he was forced to contrive marrying a second wife: here's where God's sovereign hand moved - working on the DNA of Henry and Catherine so that they could have no male son. This isn't the first time that the Lord God sovereignly works in the marriage lives of people. Think of Abraham and Sarah and the conception of children leading to the producing of Ishmael and then Isaac, making for the unending conflict down to our day and generation in the Middle East between the Arabs and the Jews.

Henry VIII defied the Pope in order to divorce Catherine and marry a succession of wives in the search for a male heir. He made himself the head of the Church of England, but remained at heart and in doctrine Roman Catholic to his death. He persecuted non-Catholics all his life even though he made England independent of the Papal control. But his act of separating from Rome was the trigger of the English Reformation.

Edward VI was the son of Henry VIII succeeding to the English throne at the tender ago of 10 and ruling for only 6 years. In God's overruling sovereignty, Edward had been under the tutellage of Protestant nobles; hence on his accession to the throne he allowed the progress of the Protestant faith. The Protestant Thomas Cranmer became the Cardinal of the Church of England.

Queen Elizabeth I succeeded Edward VI and had to ward off the designs of Mary Queen of Scots as the Catholic contender for the English crown. The Spanish King also wanted to put a Catholic ruler on the throne of England and sent the Spanish Armada, a gigantic fleet, against England. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was another landmark of God's sovereign control of the wind and the waves to the detriment of the Spanish galleons. Actually Elizabeth I had been brought up a Catholic by her father and she remained at heart very much Catholic all her life, but the Protestant faith grew in strength under her long reign.

Andrew Loh

The Legacy of Dr. Francis Schaeffer

One of the most well-known Christian leaders of the twentieth century was Francis Schaeffer (1912-84). He communicated the truth of historic Biblical Christianity in a way that combined intellectual integrity, artistic sensitivity and a practical loving care.

He was often thought of as a Christian guru with his goatee beard and Swiss clothes. Some would think that he was a deep thinker and a theologian, but he was none of these, despite the number of articles and books he wrote. He had studied philosophy and had a good grasp of a wide spectrum of subjects, while his seminary studies provided him with a sufficient handle on the Scriptures. He had the good fortune of marrying a refined and excellent Christian wife who was also well-educated and from a good missionary family.

Dr. Schaeffer must be best known for demonstrating the art of "truthing the truth in love". He had known what it was to be biblically educated and yet lacking in Christian practical love to be able to adorn the truth. He had seen the worst of the Presbyterian church splits and quarrels in USA, from which he learned that the knowledge of biblical truth alone and the preaching of it were not enough. Truth had to be dressed and given in doses of practical agape love, and this was what he and his wife tried their best to do in L'Abri community living.

His refuge in L'Abri attracted a generation of young student seekers who were confused by the philosophies imbibed in colleges, and he welcome them to live with his family. He was the instrument of healing of their minds and hearts.

Several of the great leaders of Christian ministries today are the fruit of his L'Abri coaching. People like Dr. Os Guinness, Jerram Barr and even politicians like Jerry Falwell and Jesus Revolution's Larry Norman and Dr. Everett Coop, the Surgeon-General of USA.

It is Well with my Soul

The Hymn "When Peace like a River Attendeth my way" was written in tears of sorrowful loss of 4 daughters at sea by their father, Horatio Spafford. He was a wealthy lawyer in Chicago and a keen Christian who was a friend of evangelist DL Moody and other well-known Christians of the day. He had booked tickets to travel by ship for his family when the a business matter kept him on land while his family travelled on a fateful sea trip.

Later on another sea trip passing the spot where his daughters perished, he was so stricken with sorrow that he could not sleep. He prayed and the Lord gave him grace to pen the words of a poem which became "It is Well with my Soul", which Philip Bliss & Sankey set to music in 1876 to become the well-known hymn sung by many since then. We appreciate the hymn much better when we know the story behind it.

Andrew Loh

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