The Urgency of the Hour

John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night comethwhen no man can work.”

Luke 19:13 “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”

Romans 13:12 “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off  the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”

I Thessalonians 5:1-3 “But of the TIMES AND SEASONS, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child: and they shall not escape.”

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to god works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so MUCH THE MORE, AS YE SEE THE DAY APPROACHING.”

James 4:9 “...behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

II Peter 3:3-7 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the LAST DAYS scoffers, walking after their own lusts. And saying, Where is the PROMISE of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same Word are KEPT IN STORE, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

Revelation 22:7 “Behold I come quickly: blessed is he that keepth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

These Scriptures along with many others reveal there is a limited time to work. While the return of Christ may not be immediate, it is certainly imminent. The Lord Jesus Christ could come at any moment in time. Like a thief in the night, He will come unannounced. The hour in which He will appear in the air will not be uppermost in the minds of the unsaved since they are preoccupied with other things. Let this not be true of the children of God who are of the day and not of the night.

(I Thessalonians 5:4)

The vision of a dying world is vast before our eyes

We feel the heartbeat of its need, we hear its feeble cries

Lord Jesus Christ, revive thy Church in this, her crucial hour

Lord Jesus Christ, awake thy Church with Spirit given power

The savage hugs his god of stone and fears descent of night

The city dweller cringes lone amid the garish light.

Lord Jesus Christ, arouse thy church to see their mute distress!

Lord Jesus Christ, equip thy Church with love and tenderness!

Today, as understanding’s bounds are stretched on every hand,

O clothe thy Word in bright, new sounds, and speed it o’er the land

Lord Jesus Christ, empower us to preach by every means!

Lord Jesus Christ, embolden us in near and distant scenes!

The warning bell of judgment tolls, above us looms the cross

Around are ever dying souls--how great, how great the loss!

O Lord, constrain and move thy church the glad news to impart!

And Lord, as thou dost stir thy Church, begin within my heart.

Anne Ortlund (1966)

Great Quotes

· The size of your faith determines the size of your blessing.

· God is too good to be unkind. He is too wise to be confused. If I cannot trace His hand, I can always trust His heart- Charles Spurgeon

· Expedients are for the hour, principles for the Ages.-H.W. Beecher

· Love God passionately and completely, then do what you will. - St. Augustine

· Never allow yourself to feel equal to your work. If you ever find that spirit is growing on you, be afraid.-Phillip Brooks

· God assumes total responsibility for the life that’s yielded to Him.

· To constantly anticipate defeat is to almost make certain of it. The anticipation of triumph is one of the secrets of victory.-J. H. Jowett

· Here is the cause of all our evils, our not knowing the Scriptures. - John Chrysostom

· Amor Vincit Omnia = (Latin) Love conquers all!

· Our first responsibility is not the evangelization of the world, but to be spiritually worthy to proclaim. It would be a tragedy to propagate a defective form of Christianity. - A. W. Tozer

· Remember that the greatest strides in Christianity’s history-the first century-were taken when  the church had no money or property. - Joseph Bayly

· Those who live in the past are blind in one eye. Those who never consult the past are blind in both eyes.-Arnold L. Cook

· Three words that are the key to growing a Church: Work, Work, Work

· Leaders see what others don’t see, see before others see and see farther than others see. -John R. Mott

· Organizations tend to lose vitality rather than gain it as time passes. They also tend to give greater attention to what they were rather than what they are becoming.-Charles Swindoll

· “...I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome.” Matthew 16:18

· I would rather fail in that which will ultimately succeed than to succeed in that which will ultimately fail. Ralph Winter

· “Oh, Lord, send us the old revival, without the defects; but if this cannot be, send it with all the defects. We must have the revival!” John Wesley

· You can learn how to live with the roof off in your relationship with God and the walls down in your relationship with others. Nancy Leigh DeMoss

· God’s resources are always equal to His requirements.-John Bisagno

 

Persistence

“Many people fail in life because they believe in the adage: If you don’t succeed, try something else. But success eludes those who follow such advice. The dreams that have come true did so because people stuck to their ambitions. They refused to be discouraged. They never let disappointment get the upper hand. Challenges only spurred them on to greater effort” -Don B. Owens, Jr.

Those characteristics -the ability to stick with it, overcome discouragement, and keep going in the face of disappointment-are all the results of a good attitude. When you have a positive attitude, it’s easier to be persistent. If you think success is just around the corner, you keep going. When you believe everything turns out for the best, you don’t mind a little discomfort. And when everything goes haywire, you remain persistent if you have a positive attitude; after all, you believe help is already on the way. - John Maxwell