“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of hell.”
CT Studd, gave up professional cricket for Britain to become a missionary to China, India and Africa
Tag Archives: CT Studd
Missionary Quotations: CT Studd4
“Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.” – C.T. Studd
The Anointing, the Devil and Preaching
Sorry….I just had to…
Friday morning 3 others and I went into the city to preach.
Beforehand in prayer the Holy Spirit gave us Joshua 2:24:
“And they said to Joshua, ‘Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”
Something the Body of Christ needs to know:
The demons indeed are fainthearted when the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached.
CT Studd said “If you don’t want the Devil to hit you, hit him first, and hit him with all your might, so that he may be too crippled to hit back. ‘Preach the Word’ is the rod the Devil fears and hates.”
Why? Because Jesus Christ has “disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.” Colossians 2:15
When the Word is preached, it is the proclamation of the public spectacle over all the powers of hell, over all the powers of sin and darkness, which was accomplished by Christ at the cross.
But. And there is a “but”… preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. The preacher needs the anointing of God.
Why?
Because it is essential to be able to preach to the “back of things” as T Austin Sparks would say.
We are not preaching merely at men and women. We are preaching to the spiritual realm at the back of all things. I would say that primarily we are preaching to the unseen realm. And this requires power – the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost.
The greatest anointing I have experienced whilst street preaching is when I knew I was preaching directly to Jesus Himself. That is when the anointing fell and folks were literally stopped in their tracks.
I have also known when I am preaching to the unseen powers of darkness. This was in the Battle with the Hare krishnas. I knew that the victory of Jesus Christ was to be enforced over the principalities and powers. They fought and they tried, but Christ has “already lead captivity captive” and is already the victor.
When we are under the anointing of God we are standing in Christ’s stead, we are His ambassadors.
“Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20
If we don’t have the anointing we are working merely in the flesh, the physical realm. We may have the correct doctrine and the right words but we are merely skimming the surface of things because the unseen realm is left undisturbed. As a consequence nothing of much value is accomplished.
How is that ice-addict to be freed from the grip of Satan? How will that young woman bound in witchcraft be made to see when the god of this age has blinded her eyes? The devil has to be dealt with first. Proclaim the victory of the cross of Christ, in the power of the Spirit, and his grip will be loosened enough for them to be able to hear the gospel.
With the anointing anything is possible. By the power of the Spirit when the gospel is proclaimed, the devil trembles and knows he is defeated already.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
May God bless you!
Missionary Quotations: CT Studd3
“Christ’s call is to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; He came not to call scoffers but sinners
to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers, and artistic musical performances, but to capture men from the devil’s clutches and the very jaws of Hell. This can be accomplished only by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Oh hallelujah!
Missionary Quotations: Norman Grubb1
“Good morning, God, I love You! What are You up to today? I want to be part of it.”
Love it!
Missionary Quotations: CT Studd
CT Studd gave up professional cricket to become a missionary to China, Africa and India. In a letter home, upon the approach of his soon death, C.T. Studd wrote of the outstanding events of his life:
“As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have but a few things to rejoice in; they are these:
1. That God called me to China and I went in spite of utmost opposition from all my loved ones.
2. That I joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act.
3. That I deliberately at the call of God, when alone on the Bibby liner in 1910, gave up my life for this work, which was to be henceforth not for the Sudan only, but for the whole unevangelized World.
My only joys therefore are that when God has given me a work to do, I have not refused it.”
Going to be with His Lord in 1931, C.T. Studd’s last word he spoke was “Hallelujah”!
Praise the Lord
Missionary Quotations: CT Studd2
“I can easily see why the folks at home want to eliminate Hell from their theology, preaching and thought. Hell is indeed awful unless its preaching is joined to a life laid down by the preacher. How can a man believe in Hell unless he throws away his life to rescue others from its torment? If there is no Hell, the Bible is a lie. Unless we are willing to go to Hell on earth for others, we cannot preach it.”
Missionary Quotations- CT Studd1
“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”
Doing Church vs a Hell-Shaking Life
“
Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” (CT Studd)
Sitting passively in our favourite seat in a comfortable building every Sunday…Is this really what Jesus intended when He said,
“The gates of hell shall not prevail against my church.”
or
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)
or
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19)
or
“”All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19,20) ?
Hmmm….. not sure that’s what our Lord meant. I think He had adventure in His mind, entailing both extreme hardship and extreme joy for His Church as it continues His work in seeking and saving the lost.
When I look at the Church in general this not what I see.
What do I see?
What does the world see?
And what does Christ Himself see?
I see predominantly a group of middle-class people driving expensive cars to a big, lavish, comfortable church on Sunday morning. They sit and clap at the right time, they worship and praise and feel joy sometimes when the music reaches its crescendo. They might hear a short message from the Word of God. It may be inspired by the Holy Spirit or it may be a self-help motivational talk with the Bible as a convenient back drop.
I see a people whose comfort and convenience cannot be upset or unsettled.
I see a people who will not be disturbed for the sake of the lost on their way to an eternal hell.
When I think of the early Salvation Army getting pelted with rotten tomatoes and eggs as they marched into villages preaching the gospel, or I think of the Wesley brothers riding on horseback over miles and miles of countryside to take the gospel to the poor, my heart breaks and I wonder how it is so that we have lost our Lord’s heart.
Is there anyone that weeps over the lost multitudes on their way to hell?
Who will go out into the battle and warn them?
Are there any that even care?
I have found that when I speak or write on this topic it is the one that upsets Christians the most. It is the topic that causes the most offense to Christians and the one that brings the most resistance. Often I hear in response, “Well if Jesus tells me to go then I will, but He hasn’t told me.”
Actually He has. Read the Great Commission. He didn’t say that to a handful of evangelists, He said it to His followers. Each one. Unfortunately there is no way around it.
You don’t have to go to the city streets, but you do have to go to the lost. There are people in your life, whom God has put around you, who do not know the Saviour. If there is no heartfelt grief for the lost in your heart, nor desire to see them saved, then check your heart. Go to the foot of the cross and ask Christ why not. For this is His very heart.
If you’re upset or offended by this post of mine, then I think that may be a good thing.
God bless you
Wow
“The best training for a soldier of Christ is not merely a theological college. They always seem to turn out sausages of varying lengths, tied at each end, without the glorious freedom a Christian ought to abound and rejoice in. You see, when in hand-to-hand conflict with the world and the devil, neat little biblical confectionery is like shooting lions with a pea-shooter: one needs a man who will let himself go and deliver blows right and left as hard as he can hit, trusting in the Holy Ghost. The training is not that of the schools but of the market: it’s the hot, free heart and not the balanced head that knocks the devil out. Nothing but forked-lightning Christians will count. A lost reputation is the best degree for Christ’s service. It is not so much the degree of arts that is needed, but that of hearts, loyal and true, that love not their lives to the death: large and loving hearts which seek to save the lost multitudes, rather than guard the ninety-nine well-fed sheep in the British pen”. CT Studd
Grace and Truth 