The Omaha guide., 1946-06-29


Friendship brings results. We re!
spond to it with our own interest
and by our desire to bring others
into its helpful circle of influence.
Obviously, the man who knows the
friendship Of Jesus wants others ii
meet his Friend and know his love
and power. ~
The disciples had seen the|Sen.
Lord, a privilege which carrie ristf
it the responsibility of declaring the
good news of completed redemp-;
tion to all the nations of the earth
We find them engaged in
I. Blessed Preaching MARK 49,.
Is, Is, 10, 20).
The call and commission Of the
Lord before he was caught up into
heaven was clear and definite.
How glad we are that the disciples
obeyed, went and preached, and had
such blessed results.
The response of these early Chris
tians was immediate and enthusi-i
astic. Would that such a spirit had
characterized the church through
all the generations since then, and
if it had, the commission would long
since have been carried out. 1t has;
been estimated that if everyone in
a church of two thousand were to
win one soul a year, and each con-
vert win one soul each year, the
world would be evangelical in less.
than thirty-fve years. Why not?
But while on the whole the church
has failed, there have been valiant.
souls all down through its history
who have given themselves to the
business of preaching the gospel.
With them, as with these of the first.
century, the secret is ever, "Thei
Lord working with them"
ii. Powerful witnessing duke "a:
45-49).
The death and resurrection of
Christ made possible the preaching:
Of repentance and remission of sins,
the message Of redemption which
was to go out to all nations through
the disciples.
They we're witnesses of these.
things, they spoke that which they
knew and had experienced. and so
their word carried weight and con
viction. That, however. was not the
secret Of the success Of their ef-
forts; there was something more.
1t is never enough for a man to
speak Of the things of God, no mat
ter how brilliant and eloquent he
may be, nor how certain he may be
Of his facts. He must have the
power Of God.
The early believers were to tarry
until they received the Holy Spirit.
We need only yield to him for he is
present with every believer-the in
dwelling One-ready to empower
and use is.
We need a real revival of the Holy
Spirit power in the church, and we
need it now. If the church as a
whole will not yield to God, let US
do so as individuals that we may
oe witnesses with power.
God is looking for men. He has
always honored those who in faith
have obeyed his command. The
whole history of church and mis-
Sionary endeavor bears eloquent
testimony to that fact.
III. Cad Soul-Win1ing (Acts 2:46.
AZ; 5:42).
There are a number Of things in
his passage. There is the fine fell
owship of the believers in the ar
ly church. We also note that they
we're regular in their attendance at
the temple. They preached and
Taught both in the temple and at
nome. But the significant thing
which we wish to note now is that
it all resulted in the salvation Of
souls.
The Lord added to the church
day by day those that we're
saved" for such is the proper read
ING Of verse AZ. Day by day souls
we're won for Christ and added to
he church Why do we not have
more churches of that kind TODAY?
The church, which is so much the
center Of life for Christians, is not
| as well understood as it should be
We have come to regard it as lust
organization among many COM
peting for the attention and interest
Of men, when it is really a divine.
living organism established bv
Christ as his body and representing
him in this world.
The church is made up of those
who are saved ". 47), those who
have received the word by faith
and witnessed a good confession Of
their faith in Christ ". All. This is
a fact to be remembered in a time
when there is so much laxness in
receiving members into the church.
1t is not a religious or social club.
1t is not a rallying place for those
who wish to work for some eco
nomic, political, or social project.
1t is not a gathering Of good people
who wish to share common in
terests.
The church needs to cleanse its
rolls of all unbelievers, all hangers
on, and to get back to the purity
which it had when only those were
received who were manifestly "add-
ed" by the Lord ". 4O.