Dedicated as a child and then he heard
the Lord. God’s Champions
Listen. Have you heard and
answered God’s Call in your life?
A young fellow heard a preacher in the other days and was greatly
moved, and the preacher said: "When you have a religious impression, the
time to act upon it is right then. The time when you hear God's call in the
which you ought to respond is right then." And the young fellow walked
down the aisle and publicly made his surrender to Christ saying: "It
shall be right now that I take Christ as my Saviour." He went back to the
sawmill in the mountains where he worked, and the boys said that next morning
he sang all the morning. Religion in the heart makes men sing.
About noon his body was caught somehow in the
machinery and crushed and mangled so that a little while thereafter he went
away into dusty death. When they got him out he faintly said: "Send for
the preacher, that preacher in the church house at the foot of the mountains
last night."
The preacher fortunately was soon found. He
hurried up the mountain to the mill, and he bent down by the side of the dying
fellow and took his hand and said: "Charley, I have come. What would you
like to say?" And with a smile on his face he faintly pressed the
minister's hand and said: "Wasn't it a glorious thing that I settled it
in time?"
Oh, my men, and women, my men and women, I
beseech you in the great Saviour's name, turn your boat upstream before it is
too late! "Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation."
Let it be your time, your day. --George W. Truett
You can’t be saved tomorrow or the next time.
Today is the day in which you can answer God’s call.
Scripture
Text:
1Sam 3:1 (NIV) The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli.
In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. 2
One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see,
was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out,
and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God
was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."
5 And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli
said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay
down. 6 Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and
went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My
son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." 7 Now
Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been
revealed to him. 8 The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up
and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli
realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, "Go
and lie down, and if he calls you, say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is
listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 The LORD came
and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"
Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
Bill Crumley's life was filled with heartbreak.
Oh yes, in college, he played on a national championship baseball team.
Then came a good job, marriage, and two adopted children.
But later the business failed. Then
the marriage failed. Bill lost
all. Another company went
bankrupt, and Bill lost that job, too. Sad
years passed; then he married a wonderful woman who also had known heartbreak.
At 55, Bill felt God's call to preach, but his
church would not ordain a divorced man. Totally
surrendered to God, Bill gave up everything that seemed to be for self, even
melting down his gold, college championship ring for seminary funds.
He eventually finished his seminary training through a correspondence
course. Then he preached in
nursing homes, little churches, and went to the Philippines with an
evangelistic group.
The Crumleys minister to small, country churches.
This preacher with the heartbreak past is powerfully ministering to
others with heartaches. Bill says
he preaches the gospel, not for his glory but because he must.
It is a task God has laid on him.- Open Windows
1.
God’s Champions are being enlisted continually.
Samuel did not yet know the Lord.
The Word had not been revealed yet to him. Could there be something new
that you have not heard?
2.
God’s Champions come in different ages, shapes, and sizes.
Samuel was a boy. He is calling you.
3.
God’s Champions are servants to the Lord and to others.
He ministered before the Lord under Eli. God’s Champions are found in
the place of service to God. Samuel
was resting in the presence of the Lord in the temple.
4.
God is the one who makes the champion.
God kept calling. He doesn’t quit.
5.
God’s Champions listen to what others have to say.
Samuel listened to Eli. God’s Champions listen to the Lord.
Samuel listened to the Lord. God
wants to speak to those who will listen/with the emphasis on the Lord.
6.
Ex-champions are like Eli. He had stopped listening.
So, God raised up another.
The turnpike stood on a quiet country
road, and, especially at night, the traffic was not very great.
So the old turnpike man used to shut his gate when darkness descended
on wood and moor, and retire to bed.
One night, when the rain was falling and neither
stars nor moon dispelled the blackness in which trees and road and heather
disappeared, a horseman cautiously approached the gate, dismounted, and
knocked for the turnpike keeper. "Gate! Gate!" he cried.
"Coming!" replied the old man. Out
there in the pitiless rain and the silence and the gloom the horseman
remembered his cozy home, and became impatient to be gone. So he knocked
again. "Gate! Gate!" he cried. "Coming! Coming!" repeated
the voice. After another long delay, during which he felt the rain
penetrating his clothes, he again banged at the door. "Gate! Gate!"
he cried more impatiently. "Coming!
Coming!" was the reply. But still the turnpike man did not appear, and
the horseman became quite angry. He opened the door, and, putting in his head, demanded:
"Why do you say, 'Coming, Coming,' this twenty minutes, and yet you never
appear?"
"Who is there?" asked the old man in a
sleepy voice. "Oh! I ask your pardon sir, but I get so used to hearing 'em
knock, that I answers, 'Coming, Coming,'in my sleep, then I takes no
more notice." How many there
are who have become so accustomed to the sound of the Gospel that they hear
without listening, and without understanding!
How many have said, again and again, when they have heard God's call,
"Coming, Coming," and have never meant it at all! --Glad Tidings