Sermons & Devotionals by Classic Christian Writings

Jesus says, "Be…ready." "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44). Am I ready? To be ready means to live continuously in readiness for the Lord’s coming. Some say, "I’m not ready, but I hope to get ready before it’s too late." Christian, ... Read More

Edited from a message delivered at the "Heart-Cry for Revival" Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, May 26-29, 1998. As a church leader, I am concerned about the subject of revival. My background is conversion at the age of 11, in a dying church out in the country. Then at age 20 I was invited to ... Read More

The Holy Spirit Himself calls for the coming of Christ: "The Spirit...says, Come...." (Rev. 22:17), that is, "Come, Lord Jesus!" When the promise of the Spirit of truth was given, Christ said: "He will guide you into all truth: and He will show you things to come" (John 16:13). Ever since the Spirit... Read More

The careful student of the Scriptures cannot avoid the conviction that from the time our Lord was taken up from the midst of His friends, they waited and watched for His appearing again. When they went down into the grave, they left their believing and longing expectation as a precious legacy to tho... Read More

Revelation 22:20 Probably no generation since our Lord ascended has had such urgent reasons as our own for praying for our Lord to come back. "God works according to the prayers of His people" (Evan Roberts), and the date of the second coming of Christ is a loose end which prayer can affect, since G... Read More

Helen Western, an American missionary, had been serving for thirteen years with the South China Boat Mission, living and working among Boat People (Sampan people), when war was declared on December 7, 1941 between America and Japan. China and Japan were already at war and the Japanese had occupied t... Read More

While I was pastor of the Baptist Church in a university town of North Carolina, I was made to realize that as a preacher I was a dismal failure. Parents from all over the state wrote and requested me to look after the spiritual welfare of their sons in the university. I prepared sermons with studen... Read More

God wants us on fire for Him! He Himself is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), and He wants His representatives to be fiery witnesses for Him. "Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire" (Heb. 1:7). Fire does not argue with trash or try to soothe it or to excuse its existence. No,... Read More

In 2 Chronicles 20:1-24 is the account of the attempted invasion of Judah by the heathen nations of Ammon and Moab. It was a fearful situation. The little tribe of Judah was situated on the west side of the Dead Sea and the armies of Moab and Ammon were moving in from the east to attack. When the in... Read More

It is a difficult thing to keep praying for revival when there is no evidence that God is really working in revival. God has given us a precious promise in Galatians 6:9: “Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.” Some of the early missionaries to the South ... Read More

God’s promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper. He intended that they should be used. God’s gold is not miser’s money, but is minted to be traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see His promises put into circulation. He loves to see His children bring them up to Him,... Read More

What is needed in the whole world today is a prayed-down Holy Ghost revival! For God to come down! For His Holy Spirit to convict sinners – in the Church and out – of sin. This is the paramount need everywhere today! When the Spirit of almighty God is prayed down upon a company of people – there is ... Read More

The diary of David Brainerd, early missionary to the American Indians, tells of the price paid for revival in terms like these: “wrestling earnestly in prayer,” “pleading for souls,” “interceding fervently,” days of “fasting and prayer,” “an agony of prayer.” So fierce was the battle that at times D... Read More

"There was given to me a thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7). "There was given to me…" Can, then, the thorn be a gift from God? I am in the habit of seeing God’s gifts in the abundance of the things which my life possesses, and I call those things the dangers of life which diminish the sum of i... Read More

There is nothing of which any of us has less to spare and yet of which most of us are so prodigal and so wasteful as time. Happy, yes, thrice happy, is the man who not only believes but feels the truth set forth in the short, solemn, and startling statement, "The time is short" (1 Cor. 7:29). The wo... Read More

For three years Christ had taught and trained His disciples. For three years He had let them share His ministry, His miracle-working power, His comfort, His encouragement, and His blessing. Now He had come to the hour of His agony and travail, and He took His disciples with Him to Gethsemane, going ... Read More

The Lamb upon the cross is now the Lamb upon the Throne. The most noble and beautiful words of language are not too great as all Heaven attributes praise to Him: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing" (Revelation... Read More

"Your Father who is in Heaven" (Matt. 7:11). This means I am bound to God by the closest and tenderest relationship, that I have a right to His love and His power and His blessing, such as nothing else could give me. Oh the boldness with which we can draw near! O the great things we have a right to ... Read More

1. Help your children to become aware of answered prayer. Tell them about the times in your life when God has answered your prayers. Encourage them to share when God answers their prayers--even if His answer isn’t what they wanted or expected. When you have other believers--especially missionaries a... Read More

When the Apostle Paul had written to the Ephesian Church, it was in a good spiritual state. But now, after some sixty years, it was at fault before the Lord. In Revelation 2:3, Jesus commended them for some things that He was pleased with; yet they had backslidden in heart, for they had left their f... Read More