Sermon Illustration

An incident is related of a missionary who came into contact with a proud and powerful Indian chief. The chief, trembling under conviction of sin, approached the missionary and offered his belt of wampum as atonement. “No!” said the missionary, “Christ cannot accept a sacrifice like that.” The Indian departed, but soon returned offering his valuable rifle and the most beautiful skins he had taken in hunting. “No!” was the reply, “Christ cannot accept those either.” Again the Indian went away, only to return with a conscience more troubled than ever. This time he offered his wigwam, together with his wife and child—everything for peace and pardon. “No,” was the reply even to this, “Christ cannot accept such a sacrifice.” At this the chief seemed utterly oppressed; but suddenly he somehow sensed the deficiency, for, lifting up tearful eyes, he cried out, “Here, Lord, take this poor Indian too!” That is the only condition for fellowship with Christ.

A converted native was to be baptized in a river. The missionary took a long spear with him into the swift current to steady himself. Inadvertently he stabbed the foot of the convert beneath the water. The man neither spoke nor moved. After the ceremony when the accident was discovered, the convert was asked why he had kept silent. “I thought it was part of the ceremony,” he replied. In a way he was right. Baptism should be an external expression of willingness to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ in whose Name the believer is baptized.

“How much is your salary?” a Muslim asked a mission school teacher who had once followed the crescent instead of the cross. “Five dollars a week,” was the answer. “Why, you could get ten times that in a government school!” “Yes, but I do not teach for money; I teach for God.” “Well—are those all the clothes the missionaries provide? Don’t you have a robe also?” The humble teacher looked down at his cotton shirt and trousers. “No, these are sufficient,” he replied. The Muslim shook his head. “I never thought there was anything to this Jesus religion,” he observed thoughtfully, “but there must be if a man will give up his robe and his lawful wage for it.” Could it be that the gospel is impeded because we are more concerned about food and clothing than reaching others with the gospel of the grace of God? This is what Christ meant when He said, “Woe unto you that are full!”

The gatekeeper at the railroad station demanded that everybody present his ticket before going through the gate to the train. From those who could not find their tickets readily there was much grumbling and swearing. One watching the scene said to the gatekeeper, “You don’t seem to be very popular with the crowd.” He cast his eyes upward to the floor above, where the superintendent’s office was, and said, “I don’t care anything about being popular with this crowd; all I care about is to be popular with my superior.”

Chrysostom, the ancient Church Father, was a beautiful example of true Christian courage. When he stood before the Roman Emperor, he was threatened with banishment if he still remained a Christian. Chrysostom replied, “You cannot, for the world is my Father’s house; you cannot banish me.” “But I will slay you,” said the Emperor. “No, but you cannot,” said the noble champion of the faith again, “for my life is hid with Christ in God.” “I will take away thy treasures.” “No, but you cannot,” was the retort; “in the first place, I have nothing you know anything about. My treasure is in heaven, and my heart is there.” “But I will drive you away from man, and you shall have no friend left.” “No, and that you cannot,” once more said the faithful witness, “for I have a Friend in heaven from whom you shall not separate me. I defy you; there is nothing you can do to hurt me.”

“Baptized for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29) does not mean that living believers could be baptized in place of those who had died unbaptized. What Paul was actually seeking to convey here is that only those who were willing to be identified with the dead in martyrdom for Christ’s sake, as well as with Christ in His death and resurrection, could be described as “those baptized for the dead.” But why does Paul use the words “for the dead?” Let us examine this phrase carefully. The first word, “for,” is huper in Greek, which basically means “over” or “ above.” The literal translation of this phrase would be “baptized over the dead”; that is to say admitted publicly into the visible Church of Christ, as if the dead bodies of those who were similarly admitted into the Church before them and had died for Christ were lying beneath their feet. Metaphorically, it means in the prospect of death and as a continuance of the testimony of those who have heroically died for the faith. Compare what happen

The history of missions is full of examples of Christian manliness. We think of Dr. Paul Carlson who served as a medical missionary in the Congo. He compassionately sought to heal the most loathsome of tropical diseases as he preached Christ as the only cure for sin. For several years he worked in the midst of increasing political ferment, preaching and living the gospel in which he so wholeheartedly believed. Even when he was arrested, he continued to treat the wounds of the rebels who had captured him. Under sentence of death, he bore himself heroically and died boosting another missionary over the wall to safety. The prevailing attitude of missionaries everywhere seems to be summed up in the words of one mission board secretary who commented, “It shows merely that we must go back.”

A wealthy university graduate chose to live frugally in a single room, cooking his own meals. As a result he was able to give two million dollars to foreign missions. In explanation of his choice he wrote these words: “Gladly would I make the floor my bed, a box my chair, and another box my table, rather than men should perish for want of knowledge of Christ.” I am not suggesting that all Christians are called upon to forfeit the normal comforts of life; only, when God calls them to a life of sacrifice, they be willing to leave all and follow Him.

Sophie, the scrub woman, was a Christian. One of the gentlemen in the large building where she worked said to her, “Say, Sophie, I understand that you are a Christian.” “Yes, sir, I am a child of the King,” was her immediate reply. “Oh! So you must be a princess, since God is your King.” “I sure am.” “Well, if God is your Father, and you are a princess and a child of the King, do you not think that it is beneath your dignity to be found here in New York City scrubbing these dirty steps?” Not being daunted Sophie replied, “There is no humiliation whatsoever. You see, I am not scrubbing these steps for my boss, Mr. Brown. I am scrubbing them for Jesus Christ, my Savior!”

In 1925, Betty Stam said: “Lord, I give up my own purposes and plans, all my own desires, hopes, and ambitions, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. I hand over to Thy keeping all of my friendships; all the people whom I love are to take second place in my heart. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Work out Thy whole will in my life, at any cost, now and forever. To me to live is Christ. Amen.” Nine years later on December 8, 1934, Betty and her husband, John Stam, calmly and bravely laid down their lives for Christ when they were martyred by Chinese Communists.

A missionary society was deeply impressed by the courageous devotion of David Livingstone who worked single-handedly for God in Africa. The society wrote to Livingstone: “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you.” Livingstone replied, “If you have men who will come only if there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”

An old deacon was once asked about the state of his church. He replied, “We are in sad straits; the church is slipping back, getting worse all the time; but, thank the Lord, none of the other churches in our neighborhood is doing any better.”

It is a great discovery to know what we can do well; doing it well is the only way the whole body of Christ can function. Don’t be like that member of an orchestra who played the piccolo. Amid the thunder of the organ, and the roll of the drums, the player on the piccolo said to himself, “In all this din, my little instrument doesn’t matter,” and he ceased to play. Suddenly the great conductor threw up his arms, and all was still. “Where is the piccolo?” he cried. God listens for our share in His orchestra no matter how small that share may be.

If the body is ill, the head hurts, the body temperature is elevated, the heart races, the lungs labor, the skin flushes or cools as needed. The kidneys work overtime to filter out infection; the brain directs each organ and each function of the body to cooperate in throwing off the enemy and restoring the organism to health. This cooperation, this united effort against outside forces that invade the body, is an illustration of how the separate members of the Body of Christ ought to unite to work against threatening forces of evil.

A rural brother, considered a bit old-fashioned, visited a great city temple. As the eloquent minister drove home some great truth, the ruralite shouted, “Praise the Lord!” Whereupon an usher touched him on the arm and whispered, “Be quiet. “You can’t ‘praise the Lord’ in this church.” God pity both preacher and church!

An eminent preacher says, “I was walking in a beautiful grove where the trees were wide apart and the trunks were straight and rugged. But, as they ascended higher, the branches came closer together, and still higher the twigs and branches interlaced. I said to myself: Our churches resemble these trees. The trunks near the earth stand stiffly and rudely apart; the more nearly they ascend toward heaven, the closer they come together until they form one beautiful canopy, under which men enjoy both shelter and happiness. Those who have the Spirit of Christ will be likeminded.”

Hubert Brooke comments: “A selfish existence in one, who is in membership with many others, is a contradiction of terms, and must mean loss to all the rest, and misery to the idle member.” May not this explain the restless discontent of many who are really united to Christ? They are not subject to the Head; they are not using His gifts for the common profit; they keep for themselves what is given for all. In short, they are disobedient and dishonest, and therefore discontented and missing the joy of the Lord.

In the Old Testament, under God’s command, trumpets were used to call the princes and the congregation together, to announce the journeying of the camps, and as an alarm or notification device. Trumpets were also blown in the days of Israel’s “gladness,” “set feasts,” and over their sacrifices in the beginning of their months (Num. 10:1-6, 10). I believe that it is in this sense of gladness for the Church of Jesus Christ that this last trumpet will be blown. Can there be any more joyous event than this, when the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and living believers shall be similarly changed? The Lord’s trumpet will call all believers, dead and living, to join Him in possessing a glorious resurrection body.

I think that I shall never see A church that’s all it ought to be: A church whose members never stray Beyond the strait and narrow way; A church that has no empty pews, Whose pastor never has the blues, A church whose deacons always deak, And none is proud, and all are meek; Where gossips never peddle lies, Or make complaints or criticize; Where all are always sweet and kind, And all to others’ faults are blind. Such perfect churches there may be, But none of them are known to me. But still, we’ll work, and pray, and plan To make our own the best we can. —Author Unknown

Paul calls himself a wise architect because the foundation he laid was not different from the one eternally laid. How foolish an architect would be if he refused to follow the laws of nature and civil engineering which are actually the laws of God. You, too, are unwise if you diverge from the Church’s one Foundation, “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” laid down by God from the beginning.

As one member of the human body harmonizes its function with the other members, we must harmonize our individual functions in the Church with those of others. There is beauty in variety, even as there is a spiritual uplift from music that harmonizes a variety of instruments and voices. We must never get out of tune by harping on the one gift we consider ours. No one of us can act independently as a member of the body. We have to cooperate with other members if we are to be of any use to the body of Christ as a whole.

The body is a delicate instrument which needs to be looked after with great care. Yet many of us don’t value it as we should or take sufficient care of it. God has made each of us a living musical instrument, so to speak, capable of showing forth His praise. Each of us is like a harp of a thousand strings on which the most varied and beautiful music may be played. Every part of our body is skillfully constructed and admirably adapted to do its proper work. God has tempered or blended every organ to produce a harmonious whole. But this instrument is exceedingly liable to go wrong. The least thing spoils it and makes it unfit for its work. Unless it’s properly treated we can’t use it to the best advantage to glorify or show forth the perfect nature of God, its Architect and Creator. This is also true of the body of Christ, His Church. We are His members, diverse in our make-up and performance but duty-bound to blend our differences to produce harmonious music and praise that will attract

The eye is placed in the upper area of the head, so that by virtue of its position it’s easy for it to entertain a high opinion of itself. The human hand drops down at the side of the body, so that it’s natural for the eye to look down upon it in both a literal and figurative sense. But the hand knows how to speak up and defend its usefulness. Suddenly a fly alights on the eye. Instantly and instinctively the hand elevates itself and brushes the fly away, saying, “Who said, Eye, that you don’t need me?” The hand goes on to plow the ground, sow the seed, and reap the harvest. It mills the wheat into flour and kneads the dough to make bread. Then it turns to the eye and says, “You, Eye, would have died long ago if it hadn’t been for my labor for you. Without the food I’ve earned, you’d have become sightless and starved to death. You can’t do without me any more than I can do without you.” Paul rightly says, “The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee” (1 Cor. 12:21).

Seminary graduates are needed, and God can use them mightily, but Christ’s body is not to be served only by those who have 20-20 vision, but also by some myopic Christians who have to wear glasses. Is it any wonder that after two thousand years the Christian gospel is still unknown to three out of every four people in the world? It’s because the Church has become an organization devoted to uniformity instead of realizing that it should be an organism, a body that has a diversity of organs with varied gifts to serve the unified body of Christ. A lack of committed believers with no college education is just as deadly to the progress of the Church as a lack of seminary graduates.

In our physical bodies a toothache makes the whole body react in sympathy; the cessation of that ache makes the whole body give a sigh of relief. Why can’t it be that way in the Church? Is it because we’re so blind to the close and sympathetic union that Scripture enjoins between the members, that we allow the folly of selfishness to take the place of the wisdom of unselfishness?

That divisions exist in the body of Christ is apparent to everyone. The spirit of exclusive denominationalism is evidence of it. Denominations need not be schismatic; they need not cause the entire body of Christ to accomplish less than God intended it. All born-again believers are members of the same body, with God-created differences. We are not uniform, but we need not fight each other on that account; we are to care for all the members of Christ’s body equally. Isolationism kills the effectiveness of the body of Christ. Paul says in Romans 14:1, “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.”

Don’t be like that bishop of whom I heard. It seems a Baptist family had a death in the family while their minister was out of town. They asked a minister of another denomination to conduct the funeral service. He said he would have to check with the bishop, so he wired him, “Can I bury a Baptist?” The bishop wired back, “Sure, bury all the Baptists you can!”

The building is not really the Church. God’s people are. Yet the Church today spends more money for buildings than for anything else. When an artist was asked to paint a picture of a decaying church, to everyone’s astonishment, instead of putting on canvas an old, tottering ruin, the artist painted a stately edifice of modern grandeur. Through the open portals could be seen the richly carved pulpit, the magnificent organ, and the beautiful stained glass windows. To one side was an elaborately designed offering plate for foreign missions—covered by a cobweb!

A flourishing church was once reduced to complete ineffectuality. Sunday school had customarily been held in the afternoon. But the pastor and others in the church wanted to change it to the morning hour. They knew that the Sunday school superintendent was strongly opposed to this. Rather than face the matter openly with him, they met in secret and voted to change the hour. When he learned of it, his feelings were deeply hurt. Angry words were exchanged. People in the church began to take sides, and soon a sizable faction moved out. Bitterness quenched the work of the Spirit, and what was once a deeply spiritual and soul-winning church became a poorly attended one. Lacking support, the edifice itself became shabby and unattractive, reflecting outwardly the destructive result of jealousy that led to strife and divisions.

A Christian once said to his minister, “I can worship God and enter into the Holy of Holies just as easily in my garden as I can in a church pew.” Later on the two men were sitting before a fireplace in which the embers glowed cheerily. Silently the minister went to the fireplace, took the tongs, and lifted a single glowing coal from the fire and placed it alone on the hearth. Soon it became black ash. The church-neglecting Christian said, “Ah, you need not say a word. I understand what you mean. I cannot worship alone any more than I can live alone. I’ll be in my place at the church next Sunday.” The environment of the church is basic to Christian growth, providing it’s the right kind of church. Ask yourself two questions before joining: Is Christ preeminent there? Is the Holy Spirit at work?

A Christian once said to his minister, “I can worship God and enter into the Holy of Holies just as easily in my garden as I can in a church pew.” Later on the two men were sitting before a fireplace in which the embers glowed cheerily. Silently the minister went to the fireplace, took the tongs, and lifted a single glowing coal from the fire and placed it alone on the hearth. Soon it became black ash. The church-neglecting Christian said, “Ah, you need not say a word. I understand what you mean. I cannot worship alone any more than I can live alone. I’ll be in my place at the church next Sunday.” The environment of the church is basic to Christian growth, providing it’s the right kind of church. Ask yourself two questions before joining: Is Christ preeminent there? Is the Holy Spirit at work?

There was a dear black saint of God who happened to enter a fashionable church. After the service he approached the preacher and told him that he wanted very much to join the church. The pastor knew that his consent to such a request would certainly not meet with the approval of the official board of the church and of the congregation. At the same time he did not want to appear cruel and harsh. So he said to this man, “John, go home and pray for two weeks for the Lord to guide you definitely whether He wants you to join this church.” Accordingly, humble John took the advice and went home. When the two weeks were up, he came again to the church, and after the service the preacher said to him, “John, what was the guidance of God?” “Sir,” John replied, “God told me that He has been trying to get in here for the past fifteen years and He hasn’t succeeded, so I had better give up trying where God cannot find entrance.”

Have you heard the fable of the wolves and the dogs? It seems the wolves were afraid of the dogs for they were many and strong, so they sent out a spy to observe them. On his return the scout said, “It is true the dogs are many, but there are not many who can harm us. There are dogs of so many kinds one can hardly count them, and, as they came marching on, I observed that they were all snapping right and left at one another. I could see clearly, though they all hate us wolves, each dog hates every other dog with all his heart.” How we need to take to heart the words of Paul to the Galatians: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Gal. 5:14, 15).

Have you heard the fable of the wolves and the dogs? It seems the wolves were afraid of the dogs for they were many and strong, so they sent out a spy to observe them. On his return the scout said, “It is true the dogs are many, but there are not many who can harm us. There are dogs of so many kinds one can hardly count them, and, as they came marching on, I observed that they were all snapping right and left at one another. I could see clearly, though they all hate us wolves, each dog hates every other dog with all his heart.” How we need to take to heart the words of Paul to the Galatians: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Gal. 5:14, 15).