Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1

A man came to his preacher one day and asked that the minister to quit speaking of sin so often. He suggested that the preacher might use the words, “mistake, error, human frailty,” in place of the word sin. The preacher had some poison in the building used to kill rats. He pulled it from a closet and said, “Sir, would you propose that I change the skull and crossbones on this jar of poison and put on it a label which reads,”Harmless,” or, “Wintergreen.” The visiting layman answered, “Why, no, that is poison. To mislabel it might lead some unsuspecting person to ingest it and die.”
“Exactly,” said the preacher, “The devil has led our generation to take the danger label off sin and paint it as something acceptable and millions are dying only to end up in an eternal hell.”

This is a good reminder that sin must be defined, described, and denounced. It is a deadly enemy that is to be dreaded. In this day when easy-going, pussy-footing, crowd-pleasing, compromising preachers are more interested in entertainment than they are in edification, we need bold men with a backbone of steel and the courage of a lion to stand up in the face of the world and tell it like it is. Where are they? Sadly, most preachers today are more concerned about pleasing people than they are about pleasing God. I want to vomit when I hear all that talk about bringing out the “champion with-in you”. We need to hear more preaching about getting the corruption out.

I realize that the truth isn’t always popular, but it is ever profitable. Before sinful man ever turns to God he must see himself as he is, and it’s not a pretty picture! To see the natural man as he appears to God is a horrid thing. A rebellious person is repulsive to God. Indeed, God loves the world, but the only grounds upon which man can be reconcilied to God is the sacrifice of Christ. We don’t do people any favor by leaving the impression that they are fine when they’re not. Until he sees himself as a sinner he will never truly turn to Christ. That’s why Paul wrote these words–“that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”(Romans 7:13). The law reveals God’s righteous standard and makes us aware of our sinfulness. It is “our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”(Galatians 3:24). Man will never see the gospel as good news until he becomes aware of the bad news–“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23).

Let’s pray that God will raise up an army of men who will raise a ruckus in the pulpit, by preaching hell hot, and heaven wonderful, and the blood sufficent for our salvation. Sugar-coating the message hasn’t worked in the past and it won’t work now or ever. It’s the truth that sets men free! Think about it!

For many years I have given away copies of the wonderful poem “One Day At A Time”–I keep a supply on my desk at all times. That poem is however more than just a favorite poem, it sets forth a crucial concept that helps us cope with the tough times in life. It has sure helped me.

A couple years ago I ran across an article by J. R. Miller that was a great blessing to me. It is entitled “Living By The Day” and, as you can tell, it deals with the same concept. I’m passing this article on to you with the prayer that it will help you as it helped me–to learn to live one day at a time. HDS

LIVING BY THE DAY

It is life’s largeness which most discourages earnest and conscientious people. As they think deeply of life’s meaning and responsibility, they are apt to be overwhelmed by the thought of its vastness. Life has manifold, almost infinite, relations toward God and toward man. Each of these relations has its binding duties. Every life has a divine mission to fulfill—a plan of God to work out.

Every individual life must be lived amid countless antagonisms, and in the face of countless perils. Battles must be fought, trials encountered, and sorrows endured.

Also, the brief earthly course—is but the beginning of an endless existence, whose immortal destinies hinge upon fidelity in the present life.

Looked at in this way, as a whole, there is something almost appalling in the thought of our responsibility in living.

Many a person who thinks of life in this aspect, and sees it in its wholeness, has not the courage to hope for success and victory—but stands staggered, well-near paralyzed, on the threshold. Despair comes to many a heart when either duty or sorrow or danger is looked at—in the aggregate.

But this is not the way we should view life. It does not come to us all in one piece. We do not get it even in years—but only in days—day by day. We look on before us, and as we count up the long years with their duties, struggles, and trials—and the bulk is like a mountain which no mortal can carry. But really, we never have more than:
one day’s battles to fight, or
one day’s work to do, or
one day’s burdens to bear, or 
one day’s sorrow to endure,
in any one day.

It is wonderful how the Bible gives emphasis to this way of viewing life. When for forty years God fed His chosen people with bread from heaven, He never gave them, except on the morning before the Sabbath, more than one day’s portion at a time. He positively forbade them gathering more than would suffice for the day; and if they should violate His command, what they gathered above the daily portion, would become corrupt. Thus early, God began to teach His people to live only by the day—and trust Him for tomorrow.

At the close of the forty years, the promise given to one of the tribes was, “As your days—so shall your strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:25. Strength was not promised in advance—enough for all of life, or even for a year, or for a month—but the promise was, that for each day, when it came with its own needs, duties, battles and griefs—enough strength would be given. As the burden increased—more strength would be imparted.

The important thought here is, that strength is not emptied into our hearts in bulk—a supply for years to come—but is kept in reserve, and given day by day, just as the day’s needs require.

When Christ came, He gave still further emphasis to the same method of living. He said, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today!” Matthew 6:34. He would have us fence off the days by themselves, and never look over the fence to think about tomorrow’s cares.

The thought is, that each day is, in a certain sense—a complete life by itself. It has . . .
its own duties,
its own trials,
its own burdens,
its own needs.
It has enough to fill our heart and hands for the one full day. The very best we can do for any day, for the perfecting of our life as a whole—is to live the one day well. We should put all our thought and energy and skill into the duty of each day, wasting no strength—either in grieving over yesterday’s failures, or in anxiety about tomorrow’s responsibilities.

Our Lord, also, in the form of prayer which He gave his disciples, taught this lesson of living only by the day. There He has told us to ask for bread—for one day only. “Give us this day our daily bread.” He again teaches us that we have to do only with the present day. We do not need tomorrow’s bread now. When we need it—it will be soon enough to ask God for it, and get it. It is the ‘manna lesson’ over again. God is caring for us, and we are to trust Him for the supply of all our needs—as they press upon us. We are to trust Him, content to have only enough in hand for the day.

If we can but learn to thus live by the day, without anxiety about the future—the burden will not be so crushing. We have nothing to do with life in the aggregate—that great bulk of duties, responsibilities, struggles, and trials—which belong to a course of years. We really have nothing to do even with the nearest of the days before us—tomorrow. Our sole business is with the one little day, now passing. Its burdens will not crush us—we can easily carry them until the sun goes down. We can always get along for one short day. It is the projection of life into the long future, which dismays and appalls us. This lesson makes life easy and simple!—-

Just about every church-goer knows that a good “sound system” is a great asset— a good aid to the preaching and singing. You are also probably aware of the fact that most churches do a “sound check” before the service begins, at least they should. It’s important that we do all we can to make sure that the music and message can be heard. However, today I want you to think about the “sound system” in a different way. I recently read the following article that should be of interest to every Christian.

Every church ought to have good acoustics. Not that the music and message should just be heard easily inside the building — they should also be broadcast clearly out into the neighborhood. But the best amplification will not come from a sound system in the building; it will come from sound living in the community.

Paul commended the church in Thessalonica for being sounding boards for the gospel: they not only received the Word of God, with joy in the midst of their afflictions, but they then sounded it out through the entire city and surrounding area. They were not content to experience the freedom and privileges of the gospel themselves; they were intent on sharing their joy in Jesus with others.

What about you? Are you just a receiver, or are you an amplifier, for the gospel? When you leave church do you feel like your spiritual work is done, or just begun? Are you living for your own pleasure, or for the glory of God? (From “A Good Thing”).

So, what do you think? Isn’t it amazing that we go to great lengths to make certain that we hear and then make no effort to help our neighbors hear the gospel. We need to get the Word of God beyond the four walls of the church building. We spend thousands on high tech amps, projectors, programs, etc. just to make the worship experience better for us, and then ignore the needs of our community. Maybe that’s why people don’t believe our message when they do happen to hear it at some special service. We used to have a sign posted at the exit saying,”You are now entering the Mission field”. We need to rediscover that fact. We need a better “Sound system”! We need to make the gospel known to the regions beyond the walls of the building.THINK ABOUT IT!