Advancing in Faith: A Call to Action

Devotional

Day 1: Cultivating a Well-Furnished Mind

In our journey of faith, we are called to grow both mentally and spiritually. This growth involves a commitment to biblical scholarship and a deep understanding of God's Word. By enriching our minds, we offer God a meaningful service, not an empty casket. In an age where educational advancement is prevalent, it is crucial to be knowledgeable, especially in biblical studies, to effectively communicate the gospel. This mental acquirement is the foundation of a rich and thoughtful ministry, enabling us to serve God with a well-furnished mind. [01:46]

"For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you." (Proverbs 2:10-11, ESV)

Reflection: What specific steps can you take this week to deepen your understanding of God's Word and enrich your mind for His service?

Day 2: Mastering the Art of Communication

Effective ministry requires clear, cogent, and persuasive communication. It is essential to adapt our style to suit our audience, ensuring that our message is both understandable and impactful. This involves not only speaking plainly but also ensuring that our message resonates with those we address. By cultivating oratorical excellence, we can communicate the gospel more effectively, reaching hearts and minds with clarity and conviction. [18:48]

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." (Colossians 4:6, ESV)

Reflection: How can you adapt your communication style to better connect with someone in your life who needs to hear the gospel?

Day 3: Embodying Moral Integrity

High moral qualities are essential for leadership in the church. Traits such as self-control, humility, and integrity must be cultivated to lead effectively. We are called to avoid self-indulgence and maintain a spirit of humility, recognizing that our strength and success come from God. By embodying these moral qualities, we set an example for others and honor God in our leadership and daily lives. [25:39]

"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out." (Proverbs 10:9, ESV)

Reflection: In what area of your life do you need to practice greater self-control or humility, and how can you begin to make changes today?

Day 4: Deepening Spiritual Intimacy

A deep, personal relationship with Christ is paramount for effective ministry. We are called to dwell in God's presence continually, allowing His love to invigorate our service. This spiritual depth enables us to understand and communicate the most excellent of sciences—knowing Christ and making Him known. By prioritizing our relationship with Christ, we can serve with authenticity and passion. [38:28]

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." (John 15:4, ESV)

Reflection: What daily practices can you implement to deepen your relationship with Christ and dwell more fully in His presence?

Day 5: Demonstrating Faith Through Action

Our faith must be demonstrated through action. We are called to be known by our deeds, not just our words. The urgency of the gospel compels us to work diligently, seeking to save souls and make a tangible impact in the world. This involves a commitment to the Great Commission and a willingness to go where the gospel is needed most. By actively living out our faith, we fulfill our calling and bring glory to God. [45:02]

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific action you can take this week to live out your faith and make a tangible impact in your community?

Sermon Summary

In this message, the call to "go forward" is a rallying cry for spiritual and ministerial growth. As fellow soldiers in the faith, we are reminded of the desperate fight before us and the need to be at our best for the Lord's work. This involves advancing in personal attainments, gifts, grace, and conformity to the image of Jesus. The journey begins with mental acquirements, emphasizing the importance of a well-furnished mind to offer God not an empty casket but a rich, thoughtful ministry. In an age of educational advancement, we must strive to be knowledgeable, especially in biblical studies, to effectively communicate the gospel.

The message also stresses the importance of oratorical skills. Clear, cogent, and persuasive communication is vital for effective ministry. We are encouraged to adapt our style to suit our audience, ensuring that our message is both understandable and impactful. The cultivation of moral qualities is equally crucial. Self-control, humility, and integrity are essential traits for those who lead in the church. We must avoid self-indulgence and maintain a spirit of humility, recognizing that our strength comes from God.

Furthermore, spiritual qualifications are paramount. A deep, personal relationship with Christ and a rich understanding of His nature and work are essential for effective ministry. We are called to dwell in God's presence continually, allowing His love to invigorate our service. Lastly, the call to action is clear: we must be known by our deeds, not just our words. The urgency of the gospel compels us to work diligently, seeking to save souls and make a tangible impact in the world. The message concludes with a plea for missionaries to rise and take the gospel to the unreached, emphasizing the need for self-sacrifice and dedication to the Great Commission.

Key Takeaways

1. furnished, offering God not an empty casket but a meaningful service. [01:46]
2. Oratorical Excellence: Effective communication is crucial for ministry. We must cultivate a clear, cogent, and persuasive style, adapting our message to suit our audience. This involves not only speaking plainly but also ensuring that our message is impactful and resonates with those we address.

3. Moral Integrity: High moral qualities are essential for leadership in the church. Self-control, humility, and integrity are vital traits that must be cultivated. We must avoid self-indulgence and maintain a spirit of humility, recognizing that our strength and success come from God.

4. Spiritual Depth: A deep, personal relationship with Christ is paramount. We must dwell in God's presence continually, allowing His love to invigorate our service. This spiritual depth enables us to understand and communicate the most excellent of sciences—knowing Christ and making Him known.

5. Active Ministry: Our faith must be demonstrated through action. We are called to be known by our deeds, not just our words. The urgency of the gospel compels us to work diligently, seeking to save souls and make a tangible impact in the world. This involves a commitment to the Great Commission and a willingness to go where the gospel is needed most.

** [01:46]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:12] - Introduction: The Call to Go Forward
[01:00] - Advancing in Personal Attainments
[02:45] - The Importance of Mental Acquirements
[04:30] - The Role of Biblical Scholarship
[06:09] - The Power of Expository Preaching
[08:20] - Discrimination and Discernment
[10:47] - Holding Firm to the Truth
[14:24] - The Necessity of Oratorical Skills
[18:48] - Clarity and Persuasiveness in Preaching
[25:05] - Cultivating Moral Qualities
[34:16] - Spiritual Qualifications and Knowing Christ
[39:16] - Dwelling in God's Presence
[45:02] - The Call to Action: Active Ministry
[49:19] - The Missionary Call and Conclusion

Sermon Clips

"Dear fellow soldiers, we are few and we have a desperate fight before us, therefore it is needful that every man should be made the most of and nerved to his highest point of strength. It is desirable that the Lord's ministers should be picked men of the church yea of the entire universe for such the age demands, therefore in reference to yourselves and your personal qualifications I give you the motto go forward, go forward in personal attainments, forward in gifts and in Grace forward in Fitness for the work and forward in Conformity to the image of Jesus." [00:21:18]

"It will never do for us continually to present ourselves to God at our worst, we are not worth his having at our best, but at any rate let not the offering be maimed and blemished by our idleness. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart is perhaps more easy to comply with than to love him with all our mind, yet we must give him our mind as well as our affections and that mind should be well furnished that we may not offer him an empty casket." [00:76:02]

"Study the Bible dear Brethren through and through with all helps that you can possibly obtain, remember that the appliances now within the reach of ordinary Christians a much more extensive than they were in our father's days, and therefore you must be greater biblical Scholars if you would keep in front of your hearers, into medal with all knowledge but Above All Things meditate day and night in the law of the Lord, be well instructed in Theology and do not regard the sneers of those who rail at it because they are ignorant of it." [00:270:12]

"Let us be thoroughly well acquainted with the great doctrines of the word of God and let us be Mighty expounding scripture, I'm sure that no preaching will last so long or build up a church so well as the expository, to renounce altogether the hortatory discourse for the expository would be running to a Preposterous extreme, but I cannot to earnestly assure you that if your Ministries are to be lastingly useful you must be expositors, for this you must understand the word yourselves and be able so to comment upon it that the people may be built up by this word." [00:354:53]

"Brethren we should cultivate a clear Style, when a man does not make me understand what he means it is because he does not himself know what he means, an average hero who is unable to follow the course of thought of the preacher or not to worry himself but to blame the preacher whose business it is to make the matter plain, if you look down into a well if it be empty it will appear to be very deep but if there be water in it you will see its brightness." [00:1063:26]

"Let us be forcible by reason of the Excellence of our matter and the energy of spirit which we throw into the delivery of it, in a word let our speaking be natural and living, I hope we have foresworn the tricks of professional orators the strain for effect the studied climax the pre-arranged pause, the theatric strut the mouthing of words and I know not what besides which you may see in certain pompous divines who still survive upon the face of the Earth, May such become extinct animals there long and may a living natural simple way of talking out the gospel be learned by us all." [00:1151:40]

"Self-indulgence has slain its thousands, let us tremble as we perish by the hands of that Delilah, let us have every passion and habit under due restraint, if we are not masters of ourselves we are not fit to be leaders in the church, we must put away all notion of self-importance, God will not bless the man who thinks himself great, to Glory even in the work of God the Holy Spirit In Yourself is To Tread dangerously near to self-addulation, let another praise thee and not thine own lips, and be very glad when that other has sense enough to hold his tongue." [00:1544:42]

"Brethren no man in Christ and out of Christ study him at his best and study him at his worst know his Anatomy his secrets and his passions you cannot do this by books you must have personal spiritual experience, God Alone can give you that, among spiritual requirements it is beyond all other things needful to know him who is the sure remedy for all human diseases, no Jesus, sit at his feet consider his nature his work his sufferings his glory, rejoice in his presence, commune with him from day to day, to know Christ is to understand the most excellent of Sciences." [00:2272:62]

"Dwell in God brethren, do not occasionally visit him but abide in him, they say in Italy that where the sun does not enter the physician must, where Jesus does not Shine the soul is sick, bask in his beams and you shall be vigorous in the service of the Lord, last Sunday night I had a text which mastered me no man knoweth the son but the father, I told the people that poor Sinners who had gone to Jesus and trusted him thought they knew him, but that they knew only a little of him." [00:2354:28]

"Brethren is the outcome of this if we are to be strong men we must be conformed to our Lord, how to be like him blessed be that cross on which we shall suffer if we suffer for being made like unto the Lord Jesus, if we obtain Conformity to Christ we shall have a wondrous unction upon our ministry and without that what is Ministry worth, in a word we must labor for Holiness of character, what is holiness, is it not wholeness of character, a balanced condition in which there is neither lack nor redundance." [00:2431:32]

"Brethren do something, do something do something, welcome it is waste their time over resolutions do something, while societies and unions are making constitutions let us win souls, too often we discuss and discuss and discuss and Satan laughs in his sleeve, it is time we are done planning and sought something to plan, I pray you be men of action all of you get to work and quit yourselves like men, old sorrowo's idea of war is mine, forward and strike no Theory attack form Colin charge bayonets plunge into the center of the enemy." [00:2688:96]

"I plead this day for those who cannot plead for themselves namely the great outlying masses of the Heathen world, our existing pulpits are tolerably well supplied but we need men who will build on New Foundations, who will do this are we as a company of Faithful Men clear in our consciences about the heathen, Millions have never heard the name of Jesus hundreds of millions have seen a missionary only once in their lives and know nothing of our King, shall we let them perish, can we go to our beds and sleep while China India Japan and other nations are being Damned." [00:2752:62]

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