MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wishing you a Christmas that is blessed with every good thing God wants for those who love Him—the JOY that makes even the smallest thing a blessing the FAITH that sustains us during difficult times, and the wondrous LOVE that surrounds us all, all year long
Christian Renewal Ministries was incorporated in 1986, and we are grateful for the confidence that you have placed in our ministries. Many of you have faithfully prayed for us, supported us financially, attended our Schools of Prayer and revival services, purchased our books, and read our quarterly CRM Journals. We are also very grateful for the guidance and support of our Board of Directors: Gail and Betty Fremont, Ron and Mary Ann Johnson, Doug and Dee Sprague, Rich and Christy Sherlock, and Shirley Tharp.
I have been preaching the Gospel for 74 years, while serving as a pastor for 47 years and travelling the world as an evangelist for 27 years preaching the Gospel and conducting Schools of Prayer. After these 74 years in ministry, I found myself preaching my last sermon on the radio in January 2020. It was a heartbreaking experience for me, but at 90 years of age how can I be less than thankful for the privilege of spreading the Gospel for 74 years! In the past several months, I have been experiencing age-related cognitive decline, which led to much difficulty in preaching. Be assured, I continue to pray several hours every day for specific prayer requests and for revival in America, believing God for the greatest spiritual awakening our country has ever seen in its history. I am continuing to study the Word of God daily and am writing weekly articles for our Facebook page and our blog (shown above in our contact information).
Pray.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Monday, December 7, 2020
Preparing for New Year 2021 - by Jim Tharp
As we are facing a new year, I feel the need to call our attention to a warning from God’s Word which the apostle Paul wrote to his spiritual son Timothy: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (II Timothy 3:1-5, NKJV)
It is important for us to know the meaning of “The Last Days.” It certainly means more than just another day or moment in time. “The Last Days” is God’s term for describing the last days of His Church Age. The Church Age began when Jesus Christ came to earth as “The Son of Man” to suffer and die to pay the sin debt of anyone who would repent of sin and trust Him as Savior and Lord. Christ’s first coming was His miraculous birth as the Son of God. He suffered and died and was resurrected on the third day. He remained on earth for 40 days to remind His disciples to prepare for spreading the gospel of salvation throughout the world. His final orders before His ascension back to Heaven was for believers to go back into the city of Jerusalem and pray for His and the Heavenly Father’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit of power. (Acts 1:1-14)
For more than two thousand years, Christians have been spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world to help everyone believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and prepare for death or the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus warned throughout His ministry that all human beings must prepare for His return. No one would know the day or the hour of His coming. But both Jesus and His disciples gave some signs of the times that would allow saints and sinners to get prepared for His Second Coming.
Dear readers, I do not need to tell you that our world is on fire. We are in global conflict. Evil has been poured out on the human race ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. The apostle Paul used the term “perilous times”—explosive, dangerous, the most critical times of human history! Chuck Colson asked me to join him in prayer for several minutes one day in Washington D.C., saying, “Brother Jim, we are in “The New Dark Ages.” He went on to say, “Something sinister is in the air we breathe. Both the heavens and the earth are ablaze with conflicting forces of good and evil!”
It is important for us to know the meaning of “The Last Days.” It certainly means more than just another day or moment in time. “The Last Days” is God’s term for describing the last days of His Church Age. The Church Age began when Jesus Christ came to earth as “The Son of Man” to suffer and die to pay the sin debt of anyone who would repent of sin and trust Him as Savior and Lord. Christ’s first coming was His miraculous birth as the Son of God. He suffered and died and was resurrected on the third day. He remained on earth for 40 days to remind His disciples to prepare for spreading the gospel of salvation throughout the world. His final orders before His ascension back to Heaven was for believers to go back into the city of Jerusalem and pray for His and the Heavenly Father’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit of power. (Acts 1:1-14)
For more than two thousand years, Christians have been spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world to help everyone believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and prepare for death or the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus warned throughout His ministry that all human beings must prepare for His return. No one would know the day or the hour of His coming. But both Jesus and His disciples gave some signs of the times that would allow saints and sinners to get prepared for His Second Coming.
Dear readers, I do not need to tell you that our world is on fire. We are in global conflict. Evil has been poured out on the human race ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. The apostle Paul used the term “perilous times”—explosive, dangerous, the most critical times of human history! Chuck Colson asked me to join him in prayer for several minutes one day in Washington D.C., saying, “Brother Jim, we are in “The New Dark Ages.” He went on to say, “Something sinister is in the air we breathe. Both the heavens and the earth are ablaze with conflicting forces of good and evil!”
Monday, November 30, 2020
Rekindling the Fire of the Holy Spirit - by Jim Tharp
Suffering alone in Rome’s Mamertine prison, the apostle Paul had more to be concerned about than his own soon-coming execution by the wicked Roman emperor Nero. The apostle Paul was deeply concerned about the spiritual needs of the important spiritual leader whom he had chosen to succeed him in his vital ministry of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In II Timothy, chapter 1, verses 3-8 (NKJV), we have Paul’s call to Timothy to get a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit: “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.”
For a number of years Timothy had traveled with Paul and demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit both in personal living and his public ministry. On several occasions, he had served as Paul’s envoy to the churches. In Berea and Thessalonica, he had been left to follow up and strengthen the believers. And Paul’s latest confidence in Timothy had been to trust him with problems in the Corinthian church.
But, in Paul’s praying and correspondence with Timothy he senses that the fires of the spirit were burning low in his trustworthy comrade. Paul remembered how the Pentecostal fires had exploded at different times in the hearts of both him and Timothy to keep them alive spiritually, just as they had in the apostles on the First Day of Pentecost. Paul also remembered how he himself had needed to pray for fresh outpourings of the Spirit. Paul realized what General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, would often urge his soldiers to do: “Stay aflame! For it is the tendency of fires to go out!” General Booth read often to His soldiers from I Thessalonians 5:19 (NKJV): “Do not quench the Spirit.”
It has not been God’s plan for the fires of His Spirit to go out, or even burn low, in this 21st century. Of course, the devil’s plan is to steal the power of Christianity in all churches and in all individual believers. His evil ways are planned carefully to distract us in many ways from our need to pray; to bring along some critical conversation to discourage us, causing doubts about one’s ability to ever live the Christian life; and to substitute times of worship with time off for recreation. Another trick of the devil is to find disappointment in another Christian, or even a spiritual leader, and try to get us to forget about prayer, worship, and Christianity! 
The experiences of prayer and the renewing of the Holy Spirit are so interrelated that sometimes we are confused about the cause and the effect. The truth is that only praying believers are full of the Holy Spirit. And it is also true that only Spirit-filled believers can prevail in prayer.
Education, personality, and sincerity can go a long ways in promoting the Christian faith and growth of the kingdom of God, but even these cannot set hearts aflame with holy fire, promote the gospel with power, or set a nation aflame with a revival of repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. But Spirit-anointed prayer can sweep an entire nation with a mighty glorious revival of spiritual power!
In II Timothy, chapter 1, verses 3-8 (NKJV), we have Paul’s call to Timothy to get a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit: “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.”
For a number of years Timothy had traveled with Paul and demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit both in personal living and his public ministry. On several occasions, he had served as Paul’s envoy to the churches. In Berea and Thessalonica, he had been left to follow up and strengthen the believers. And Paul’s latest confidence in Timothy had been to trust him with problems in the Corinthian church.
But, in Paul’s praying and correspondence with Timothy he senses that the fires of the spirit were burning low in his trustworthy comrade. Paul remembered how the Pentecostal fires had exploded at different times in the hearts of both him and Timothy to keep them alive spiritually, just as they had in the apostles on the First Day of Pentecost. Paul also remembered how he himself had needed to pray for fresh outpourings of the Spirit. Paul realized what General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, would often urge his soldiers to do: “Stay aflame! For it is the tendency of fires to go out!” General Booth read often to His soldiers from I Thessalonians 5:19 (NKJV): “Do not quench the Spirit.”
It has not been God’s plan for the fires of His Spirit to go out, or even burn low, in this 21st century. Of course, the devil’s plan is to steal the power of Christianity in all churches and in all individual believers. His evil ways are planned carefully to distract us in many ways from our need to pray; to bring along some critical conversation to discourage us, causing doubts about one’s ability to ever live the Christian life; and to substitute times of worship with time off for recreation. Another trick of the devil is to find disappointment in another Christian, or even a spiritual leader, and try to get us to forget about prayer, worship, and Christianity!
Education, personality, and sincerity can go a long ways in promoting the Christian faith and growth of the kingdom of God, but even these cannot set hearts aflame with holy fire, promote the gospel with power, or set a nation aflame with a revival of repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. But Spirit-anointed prayer can sweep an entire nation with a mighty glorious revival of spiritual power!
Monday, November 23, 2020
Thanksgiving Prayer Time - by Jim Tharp
As we Americans prepare to celebrate our annual Thanksgiving, I can think of nothing more important for which to give thanks than the fact that our God of love is calling all of us—saints and sinners—to give serious attention to prayer! America must experience a mighty spiritual awakening in the near future or we shall soon no longer be the “land of the free and home of the brave.” Of course, it is a good thing for families to gather for feasting and fun at Thanksgiving time, and that should continue.
Only a God of love could make such a sacrifice as to send His “Only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ” to become the “Son of Man” and to die on an old rugged cross to pay for our sins. And, he would then rise from the dead and go back to join His Heavenly Father so they could form a Throne of Grace for lost souls to repent and believe in Jesus and to be devoted to a life of prayer.
I call attention to the apostle Paul’s message to first-century believers; it is also a message for we 21st century believers: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:1-5).
The apostle Paul is writing a hymn of salvation, and he speaks of our gifts and all spiritual blessings! In fact, Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament epistles, often mentioned PRAYER as one of the main spiritual blessings. May God help us all to realize that, once Jesus had returned to our Heavenly Father and established the Throne of Grace for us to approach Him in prayer, He sent the Holy Spirit to help us pray. We are told in Romans 8:26 that, on our own, we do not know how to pray as we ought. But we read that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and makes intercession for us so that we can pray according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
I would remind us that back in the early days of America, even before we became a nation, the Holy Spirit began preparing some spiritual leaders for an unusual outpouring of fresh spiritual power on a number of believers in different places. Theodore Frelinghuysen experienced a new anointing as he preached conviction for sin to his startled sanctimonious Dutch Reformed congregation in Raritan, New Jersey. About the same time, Gilbert Tennent and other Presbyterian ministers were moved by the Holy Spirit to fast and pray for revival fires throughout Philadelphia. Jonathan Edwards, a congregationalist pastor in Northampton, Massachusetts, through much prayer and fasting, spearheaded a New England awakening. It was during this period that Edwards preached the most celebrated sermon of that great awakening in Enfield, Connecticut. This sermon was called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
And then along came George Whitefield, a prominent British evangelist, who in his outdoor meetings was used mightily to tie all these scattered revival fires together throughout the Southern and Middle colonies. He was on his way to New England where the first great American awakening climaxed in great power.
During this Thanksgiving season, we should all be grateful that there are millions of concerned Americans who realize that nothing politicians or theologians contrive is going to save America from self-destruction with all our spiritual compromise, political division, and social and moral collapse; God alone can save us, and He longs to do just that! But His message to His believers is clear—it starts with PRAYER! “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. (II Chronicles 7:14-15). Please note that this condition begins with HUMILITY—being humble enough to confess sin, no matter how long you have been a member of the church. Then comes PRAYER—confessing sin, believing that you are forgiven and that you will be heard as you pray! Pray for yourself, loved ones, fellow church members, neighbors, friends, pastors, children, teachers, politicians, the sick, and for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all the communities throughout the nation. In PRAYER, let us “Seek God’s Face!” This means plead earnestly to get his attention, and this includes asking God to help you keep in mind His divine mercy and power to give you what you ask for. Then “Turn from your wicked ways.” When we are forgiven, we are to quit the sin business with the help of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse your heart and empower you to not only understand the Bible you read but also to have the strength to obey. Learn to live the Christian life. Keep at it praying alone, with the family, and with brothers and sisters in Christ in small groups or greater gatherings. Plan on keeping up the prayer; it is a long hall, but prayer is the road to revival. The Holy Spirit comes from Heaven and charges the atmosphere with the fear of God, the conviction of sin, and the boldness and humility to repent and to change your ways.
Philosophers and pastors have all written their testimonies on how the first early American revival resulted in producing courageous spiritual, mental, moral, and political leaders. They were helpful in preparing the colonies to sue for their freedom to become “the Great City on the Hill for the inspiration of the nations and for the glory of God.”
Of course, it is the nature of spiritual awakenings to weaken as time passes. So, all too soon the early Americans slipped back into spiritual complacency; cold hearts developed in the church, in the business world, and in the political world. But what has kept America alive have been the great revivals of the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s. Unfortunately, the 19th century revivals were the weakest of those spiritual awakenings. But that which caused God to send outpourings of the Holy Spirit for the first three centuries is still a promise.
During this Thanksgiving Season, we can feel blessed in believing that it is not too late. A good friend of mine has sung throughout the world that “It Is No Secret What God Can Do!” Great evangelists, pastors, and laymen from the past who were all great prayer warriors include John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, and A.B. Simpson. If they were living today, I think they would find a way to convince a great number of Americans that all the idolatry, immorality, irreverence, and sin are merely reminders that form the background and set the stage for the greatest spiritual awakening in the entire history of America! Now I know there are those, and even some who claim to be Christians, that think the appalling moral and spiritual darkness is to be ignored and allow God to pronounce divine judgment.
But I do believe, as those earlier evangelists preached, we need to take prayer seriously, get filled with the Holy Spirit for His help in praying, and claim God’s promises.
Only a God of love could make such a sacrifice as to send His “Only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ” to become the “Son of Man” and to die on an old rugged cross to pay for our sins. And, he would then rise from the dead and go back to join His Heavenly Father so they could form a Throne of Grace for lost souls to repent and believe in Jesus and to be devoted to a life of prayer.
I call attention to the apostle Paul’s message to first-century believers; it is also a message for we 21st century believers: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:1-5).
The apostle Paul is writing a hymn of salvation, and he speaks of our gifts and all spiritual blessings! In fact, Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament epistles, often mentioned PRAYER as one of the main spiritual blessings. May God help us all to realize that, once Jesus had returned to our Heavenly Father and established the Throne of Grace for us to approach Him in prayer, He sent the Holy Spirit to help us pray. We are told in Romans 8:26 that, on our own, we do not know how to pray as we ought. But we read that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and makes intercession for us so that we can pray according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
I would remind us that back in the early days of America, even before we became a nation, the Holy Spirit began preparing some spiritual leaders for an unusual outpouring of fresh spiritual power on a number of believers in different places. Theodore Frelinghuysen experienced a new anointing as he preached conviction for sin to his startled sanctimonious Dutch Reformed congregation in Raritan, New Jersey. About the same time, Gilbert Tennent and other Presbyterian ministers were moved by the Holy Spirit to fast and pray for revival fires throughout Philadelphia. Jonathan Edwards, a congregationalist pastor in Northampton, Massachusetts, through much prayer and fasting, spearheaded a New England awakening. It was during this period that Edwards preached the most celebrated sermon of that great awakening in Enfield, Connecticut. This sermon was called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
And then along came George Whitefield, a prominent British evangelist, who in his outdoor meetings was used mightily to tie all these scattered revival fires together throughout the Southern and Middle colonies. He was on his way to New England where the first great American awakening climaxed in great power.
During this Thanksgiving season, we should all be grateful that there are millions of concerned Americans who realize that nothing politicians or theologians contrive is going to save America from self-destruction with all our spiritual compromise, political division, and social and moral collapse; God alone can save us, and He longs to do just that! But His message to His believers is clear—it starts with PRAYER! “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. (II Chronicles 7:14-15). Please note that this condition begins with HUMILITY—being humble enough to confess sin, no matter how long you have been a member of the church. Then comes PRAYER—confessing sin, believing that you are forgiven and that you will be heard as you pray! Pray for yourself, loved ones, fellow church members, neighbors, friends, pastors, children, teachers, politicians, the sick, and for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all the communities throughout the nation. In PRAYER, let us “Seek God’s Face!” This means plead earnestly to get his attention, and this includes asking God to help you keep in mind His divine mercy and power to give you what you ask for. Then “Turn from your wicked ways.” When we are forgiven, we are to quit the sin business with the help of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse your heart and empower you to not only understand the Bible you read but also to have the strength to obey. Learn to live the Christian life. Keep at it praying alone, with the family, and with brothers and sisters in Christ in small groups or greater gatherings. Plan on keeping up the prayer; it is a long hall, but prayer is the road to revival. The Holy Spirit comes from Heaven and charges the atmosphere with the fear of God, the conviction of sin, and the boldness and humility to repent and to change your ways.
Philosophers and pastors have all written their testimonies on how the first early American revival resulted in producing courageous spiritual, mental, moral, and political leaders. They were helpful in preparing the colonies to sue for their freedom to become “the Great City on the Hill for the inspiration of the nations and for the glory of God.”
Of course, it is the nature of spiritual awakenings to weaken as time passes. So, all too soon the early Americans slipped back into spiritual complacency; cold hearts developed in the church, in the business world, and in the political world. But what has kept America alive have been the great revivals of the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s. Unfortunately, the 19th century revivals were the weakest of those spiritual awakenings. But that which caused God to send outpourings of the Holy Spirit for the first three centuries is still a promise.
During this Thanksgiving Season, we can feel blessed in believing that it is not too late. A good friend of mine has sung throughout the world that “It Is No Secret What God Can Do!” Great evangelists, pastors, and laymen from the past who were all great prayer warriors include John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, and A.B. Simpson. If they were living today, I think they would find a way to convince a great number of Americans that all the idolatry, immorality, irreverence, and sin are merely reminders that form the background and set the stage for the greatest spiritual awakening in the entire history of America! Now I know there are those, and even some who claim to be Christians, that think the appalling moral and spiritual darkness is to be ignored and allow God to pronounce divine judgment.
Friday, November 13, 2020
THE TRAGEDY OF LOST LOVE - by Jim Tharp
Our Bible tells us that “God is love!” “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:7-11)
God created Adam and Eve to love Him with all their hearts and to produce a human race that would love one another. To remind us of our tragic loss of love, I call attention to how the Apostle Paul described our condition in these last days: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power….” (II Timothy 3:1-5)
Consider how the Apostle Paul called attention to the lamentable conditions of humanity as we come to the last seasons of the church age; notice his first three words: “But know this.” This should remind us of what a military officer says when he is about to lead his soldiers into battle: “Now hear this!” These were the code words for getting attention. Perhaps we should remember that the Apostle Paul is writing this with the knowledge that the wicked emperor Nero has already ordered his execution. No doubt he wrote this realizing that his life was about to end, and he is grateful that His redeemed soul is full of the love of God and he will spend eternity in heaven.
God created Adam and Eve to love Him with all their hearts and to produce a human race that would love one another. To remind us of our tragic loss of love, I call attention to how the Apostle Paul described our condition in these last days: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power….” (II Timothy 3:1-5)
Consider how the Apostle Paul called attention to the lamentable conditions of humanity as we come to the last seasons of the church age; notice his first three words: “But know this.” This should remind us of what a military officer says when he is about to lead his soldiers into battle: “Now hear this!” These were the code words for getting attention. Perhaps we should remember that the Apostle Paul is writing this with the knowledge that the wicked emperor Nero has already ordered his execution. No doubt he wrote this realizing that his life was about to end, and he is grateful that His redeemed soul is full of the love of God and he will spend eternity in heaven.
Monday, November 9, 2020
Thanksgiving 2020 - by Jim Tharp
Considering the anger, division, and disturbance going on in our beloved country at this time, I would like to suggest that we all pray to the Lord to help us quiet our hearts and realize what we have to be grateful for during this Thanksgiving season. My Scriptural text is found in the Apostle Paul’s inspiring message in I Thessalonians 5, verses 16 through 18 (NKJV): "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
In the above Scripture, Paul is calling these persecuted, hurting Christians to pray and allow the Lord to help them change from self-concern to praising God from whom all blessings flow. They were to turn their minds and hearts to what God had done and would continue to do for them. We must remember in our disappointments and hardships that we are neither helpless nor hopeless. We have a Heavenly Father who loves us. He sacrificed His one and only righteous Son to suffer and die to save us from our sins. Jesus Christ shed His blood on that old rugged cross in order that our Heavenly Father could justly forgive our sins when we repent. As we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are adopted into God’s redeemed family and our names are inscribed in Heaven to prove that we are His born-again children. Unbelievers should rejoice that they can repent and trust Christ as their Savior; believers should feel the need to rejoice in knowing that when they die they will go to heaven.
Let us not forget the part in our text that commands us to “pray without ceasing.” Praying prayers of thanksgiving is not only an obligation; it is also inspiring, uplifting, mind-changing, heart-changing, and faith-building. The command to “pray without ceasing” includes all forms of communicating with God—praying, singing, worshiping, and giving thanks. Thanking God for answered prayer is transforming.
Several years ago, while driving through Massachusetts after preaching in the northeastern states, I decided to visit Plymouth Rock where the Pilgrims landed in December 1620 (400 years ago). I looked over the replica of the Mayflower and marveled at the lack of space for the many people who had sailed the Atlantic for so long a time. I walked on up the hill and stood before the monument of those who had braved that wild ocean and had come ashore to tame the savage wilderness. Governor William Bradford’s wife drowned while disembarking from the Mayflower, leaving the Governor with their one-year old son. The Pilgrims had landed in cold weather, lacking sufficient provisions for the winter. There were no shelters awaiting them to protect them from the cold, snow, wind, and rain. Most of them grew ill within a matter of weeks. Ten of the seventeen husbands and fourteen of the seventeen wives died within three months of the Pilgrims’ landing. By April 1621, more than half of the population had died of either disease or famine. The summer of 1621 brought a welcome reprieve from the earliest harsh environment. Indians taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, since the wheat they had brought from England would simply not grow in the rocky soil of Massachusetts. 
In the above Scripture, Paul is calling these persecuted, hurting Christians to pray and allow the Lord to help them change from self-concern to praising God from whom all blessings flow. They were to turn their minds and hearts to what God had done and would continue to do for them. We must remember in our disappointments and hardships that we are neither helpless nor hopeless. We have a Heavenly Father who loves us. He sacrificed His one and only righteous Son to suffer and die to save us from our sins. Jesus Christ shed His blood on that old rugged cross in order that our Heavenly Father could justly forgive our sins when we repent. As we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are adopted into God’s redeemed family and our names are inscribed in Heaven to prove that we are His born-again children. Unbelievers should rejoice that they can repent and trust Christ as their Savior; believers should feel the need to rejoice in knowing that when they die they will go to heaven.
Let us not forget the part in our text that commands us to “pray without ceasing.” Praying prayers of thanksgiving is not only an obligation; it is also inspiring, uplifting, mind-changing, heart-changing, and faith-building. The command to “pray without ceasing” includes all forms of communicating with God—praying, singing, worshiping, and giving thanks. Thanking God for answered prayer is transforming.
Several years ago, while driving through Massachusetts after preaching in the northeastern states, I decided to visit Plymouth Rock where the Pilgrims landed in December 1620 (400 years ago). I looked over the replica of the Mayflower and marveled at the lack of space for the many people who had sailed the Atlantic for so long a time. I walked on up the hill and stood before the monument of those who had braved that wild ocean and had come ashore to tame the savage wilderness. Governor William Bradford’s wife drowned while disembarking from the Mayflower, leaving the Governor with their one-year old son. The Pilgrims had landed in cold weather, lacking sufficient provisions for the winter. There were no shelters awaiting them to protect them from the cold, snow, wind, and rain. Most of them grew ill within a matter of weeks. Ten of the seventeen husbands and fourteen of the seventeen wives died within three months of the Pilgrims’ landing. By April 1621, more than half of the population had died of either disease or famine. The summer of 1621 brought a welcome reprieve from the earliest harsh environment. Indians taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, since the wheat they had brought from England would simply not grow in the rocky soil of Massachusetts.
The colonists also learned to hunt and fish in their surroundings. Through it all, they never forgot that their gracious and merciful God had been with them in the crossing of the ocean, in helping them erect shelters, and in bringing friendly native Americans to comfort them through the loss of their loved ones and to help them find food. Although they were living with limited rations, they declared their first Thanksgiving as a celebration of God’s gracious provisions.
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Power to Go On - Christian Renewal Journal Volume 38, Issue 4, Fall 2020
“. . . I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive . . ..” (John 14: 16-17, NKJV)
“. . . John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. . ..But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:5, 8, NKJV)
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. . ..” (Acts 2:4, NKJV)
“. . . but ever be filled and stimulated with the (Holy) Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, ANT)
In 1960, an American evangelist asked Karl Barth what the new emphasis in theology would be during the next 20 years. Without hesitation, he replied, “The Holy Spirit!” The Swiss theologian did not live to see his prediction come true, but how right he was! In my opinion, the generation of the 1960s and 1970s heard more sound teaching on the Holy Spirit than has any age since the early church. 
Christ Himself is our authority on the Holy Spirit. His five “Paraclete Passages” (John, Chapters 14-16) prepared the minds and hearts of His followers for the coming of His Spirit. He used the term parakletos to speak of the Holy Spirit and His work. It is not a term that is easily translated — “Comforter,”(KJV), “Counselor,” (NIV), “Advocate,” (NRSV), or “Helper,” (NKJV). The term means “One called to our side to help us.”
Jesus once gave this invitation to a crowd in Jerusalem: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38, NKJV) And then John adds, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:39, NKJV)
The Master explained to His disciples that He must go away from them in the flesh in order to come to them again in the Spirit. They would not be left without comfort, wisdom, and power—the power to go on.
“. . . John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. . ..But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:5, 8, NKJV)
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. . ..” (Acts 2:4, NKJV)
“. . . but ever be filled and stimulated with the (Holy) Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, ANT)
In 1960, an American evangelist asked Karl Barth what the new emphasis in theology would be during the next 20 years. Without hesitation, he replied, “The Holy Spirit!” The Swiss theologian did not live to see his prediction come true, but how right he was! In my opinion, the generation of the 1960s and 1970s heard more sound teaching on the Holy Spirit than has any age since the early church.
Jesus once gave this invitation to a crowd in Jerusalem: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38, NKJV) And then John adds, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:39, NKJV)
The Master explained to His disciples that He must go away from them in the flesh in order to come to them again in the Spirit. They would not be left without comfort, wisdom, and power—the power to go on.
Friday, October 30, 2020
Power for Living the Christian Life - by Jim tharp
This message today addresses the weaknesses among professing Christians in many of our churches throughout America. My Scriptural text is found in Ephesians 1:13-14: “In Him [Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
This message has to do with why many of our Christian churches are so weak—weak in worship, prayer, winning others to Christ, and reaching out to their communities. The real problem is that many Christians have not paid attention to what is to happen once they have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. As we read in the above Scripture, we receive the Holy Spirit when we trust Christ for our salvation. But the Spirit is a Person, a Member of the Triune Godhead, who is as divine as are God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is the invisible Agent (representative) of God the Father and God the Son who indwells believers to give them the power to live the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is within us, a Spirit, making our human body and mind His dwelling. All three members of the Godhead are one in thought, authority, and love for the entire human race.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
The Bible, God’s Holy Word - by Jim Tharp
In these days of division, tension, confusion, and evil, I am praying that more of us from all walks of life will feel the need to turn to the Bible, which is the Word of God. We read in II Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Why the emphasis on this Holy Book? Because God and His Word are inseparable. The average person and his word may be two different things, but our Eternal God, Our Holy God, our Omniscient God are one and the same in all times—yesterday, today, and forever. Our Eternal God has spoken His Eternal Word. Our Holy Bible is a miracle Book because it comes from our Eternal God who is the miracle Worker; God created the world by His Eternal Word, and through His Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, He created a new redeemed human race.
Our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, is introduced to us in John’s Gospel chapter 1, verses 1-5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
Why the emphasis on this Holy Book? Because God and His Word are inseparable. The average person and his word may be two different things, but our Eternal God, Our Holy God, our Omniscient God are one and the same in all times—yesterday, today, and forever. Our Eternal God has spoken His Eternal Word. Our Holy Bible is a miracle Book because it comes from our Eternal God who is the miracle Worker; God created the world by His Eternal Word, and through His Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, He created a new redeemed human race.
No book ever written has been attacked and despised as much as this Holy Book—a sure proof that evil was angrily on planet earth to make every effort to hold the human race in eternal bondage. While the Bible has been opposed throughout many nations, it remains the most powerful book ever written because it is the Living Book, the Word of God. Our Holy Bible is the Written Word, and our Lord Jesus Christ is the Living Word. We read in John’s Gospel, chapter 1, verse 14 that “. . . the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Monday, October 19, 2020
Our Coming Presidential Election - by Jim Tharp
In November 2020 millions of Americans will have the sacred opportunity of participating in the most significant presidential election since the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. President Lincoln was elected to guide the United States through a time when it was a horribly divided nation with evil forces allied against the free exercise of faith and freedom. He had to deal with demonic, immoral forces operating in political, intellectual, and religious fields.
Abraham Lincoln, knowing it was impossible for any mortal to succeed in the impossible assignment of being President of the United States, called for prayer.
I am suggesting that we take seriously what Abraham Lincoln proposed and pray as instructed in I Timothy, chapter 2, verses 1-8 (The Message):
“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.”
Abraham Lincoln, knowing it was impossible for any mortal to succeed in the impossible assignment of being President of the United States, called for prayer.
I am suggesting that we take seriously what Abraham Lincoln proposed and pray as instructed in I Timothy, chapter 2, verses 1-8 (The Message):
“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth. Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.”
Monday, October 12, 2020
Rekindling the Flames - by Jim Tharp
Believing that the greatest need in the American church today is a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit, I call attention to the apostle Paul’s urgent appeal to his closest partner in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is found in II Timothy 1:3-8, NKJV: “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.”
On his first missionary journey Paul visited the city of Lystra and discovered there the unusual young man named Timothy. Learning of the strong spiritual heritage in his grandmother and his mother, the apostle sensed the call of God upon this young believer. Spending months in the area and having a sense of this promising minister of the Gospel, Paul laid hands on Timothy and prayed for Him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. For several years Timothy traveled with Paul and demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit in his personal life as well as in his successful delivery of gospel messages. Paul even sent him out on his own to help start churches in several cities. But those were years of persecution and many other hardships for messengers of the gospel.
While suffering alone in Rome’s old dark Mamertine Prison, Paul felt the Holy Spirit impressing on him that he had more to pray about than his coming execution ordered by the emperor. Before his imminent death he longed to see his dear friend Timothy and pray for him to receive a fresh filling of the Spirit.
We read in Acts 4:31 that all twelve apostles, who had previously been filled with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, received a fresh filling of the Spirit. The preceding days had been filled with much opposition—some apostles had been beaten, put in jail, and threatened. They had not lost their faith, but they were hungry, weary, and discouraged. General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, warned his preachers to stay full of the Spirit “because the tendency of fire is to go out.” John Wesley, the great spiritual leader in England during the 1800s, confessed “When I fail to fast and pray, I soon lose my spiritual heat and passion.”
Monday, October 5, 2020
The Valley of Dry Bones - by Jim Tharp
The prophet Ezekiel reveals how the Lord compared His Old Testament Israelites to a valley of dry bones: “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord God, You know.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.’” (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)
In the verses that follow the prophet tells us how he obeyed the Lord, and he reports the miracle that happened just as God had promised. Let us consider the scene that Ezekiel was commanded to view back in that day. He was led out into a valley where long ago a great battle had left hundreds slaughtered. No one had survived to bury the dead. Vultures had long since picked the carcasses clean, and the very dry bones were there. The rains of the centuries had washed them thin, and hundreds of summer suns had bleached them as white as snow. It was not a pleasant sight!
Let there be no misunderstanding about the purpose of this vision! The Lord had a mission for this prophet—Ezekiel was to prophesy. Later we read, “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.” (Ezekiel 37: 7-10, NKJV)
We read about the backslidings of God’s Old Testament Israelites in several places; in many ways they failed to meet the conditions of their covenant with Jehovah. So to the Church of Jesus Christ throughout its more than two thousand years of existence has all too often failed to live up to the New Covenant of Grace because of periodic seasons of disobedience, division, selfishness, worldliness, and unbelief. This grieves the Holy Spirit who enables us to pray, worship, witness for Christ, and find our place in the Kingdom of God.
In the verses that follow the prophet tells us how he obeyed the Lord, and he reports the miracle that happened just as God had promised. Let us consider the scene that Ezekiel was commanded to view back in that day. He was led out into a valley where long ago a great battle had left hundreds slaughtered. No one had survived to bury the dead. Vultures had long since picked the carcasses clean, and the very dry bones were there. The rains of the centuries had washed them thin, and hundreds of summer suns had bleached them as white as snow. It was not a pleasant sight!
We read about the backslidings of God’s Old Testament Israelites in several places; in many ways they failed to meet the conditions of their covenant with Jehovah. So to the Church of Jesus Christ throughout its more than two thousand years of existence has all too often failed to live up to the New Covenant of Grace because of periodic seasons of disobedience, division, selfishness, worldliness, and unbelief. This grieves the Holy Spirit who enables us to pray, worship, witness for Christ, and find our place in the Kingdom of God.
Monday, September 28, 2020
The Army of God - by Jim Tharp
“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, ‘Are You for us or for our adversaries?’ So He said, ‘No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, ‘What does my Lord say to His servant?’ Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ‘Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” (Joshua 5:13-15, NKJV)
“Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.’” (Joshua 6:1-5, NKJV)
After pastoring churches for 43 years and then spending 23 years in traveling the world preaching camp meetings, revivals, and Schools of Prayer, I felt led of the Holy Spirit to spend the later years of my life writing about prayer. I believe the greatest need for the Church and the world in these times is a mighty spiritual awakening. All great outpourings of the Spirit of God bringing revival to the church came about by prayer—Spirit-anointed prayer, prolonged prayer, fasting prayer, burdened prayer. Spirit-anointed prayer is prevailing prayer.
For the last 50 years I have been convinced that the Holy Spirit’s most urgent call to the American churches is a call to prevailing prayer for revival! What America needs at this dark hour are Spirit-filled Christian men and women who will pour their hearts into prevailing prayer and become prayer warriors. God is calling out men and women in all our churches to join the Army of God. While reading Chapter 5 of Joshua, I felt the need to write about “The Army of God.”
Joshua was called of God to replace the great leader Moses in leading the children of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt and take them to a place that God called “The Promised Land.” God had also ordered Joshua to invade and capture the major city of Jericho. So, Joshua was on his way to check out the city of Jericho, which would be the location of his first battle as the captain of his army—an army that had seen previous battles. We need to remember that this is Joshua’s first assignment, and he is going to check out his challenge. But God has been waiting for this new captain to tell him about the kind of army he would need and how to capture that city of Jericho. God had already dried up the Jordan River so the army could cross on dry land. But the Lord needed to get this new captain’s attention.
“Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.’” (Joshua 6:1-5, NKJV)
After pastoring churches for 43 years and then spending 23 years in traveling the world preaching camp meetings, revivals, and Schools of Prayer, I felt led of the Holy Spirit to spend the later years of my life writing about prayer. I believe the greatest need for the Church and the world in these times is a mighty spiritual awakening. All great outpourings of the Spirit of God bringing revival to the church came about by prayer—Spirit-anointed prayer, prolonged prayer, fasting prayer, burdened prayer. Spirit-anointed prayer is prevailing prayer.
For the last 50 years I have been convinced that the Holy Spirit’s most urgent call to the American churches is a call to prevailing prayer for revival! What America needs at this dark hour are Spirit-filled Christian men and women who will pour their hearts into prevailing prayer and become prayer warriors. God is calling out men and women in all our churches to join the Army of God. While reading Chapter 5 of Joshua, I felt the need to write about “The Army of God.”
Joshua was called of God to replace the great leader Moses in leading the children of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt and take them to a place that God called “The Promised Land.” God had also ordered Joshua to invade and capture the major city of Jericho. So, Joshua was on his way to check out the city of Jericho, which would be the location of his first battle as the captain of his army—an army that had seen previous battles. We need to remember that this is Joshua’s first assignment, and he is going to check out his challenge. But God has been waiting for this new captain to tell him about the kind of army he would need and how to capture that city of Jericho. God had already dried up the Jordan River so the army could cross on dry land. But the Lord needed to get this new captain’s attention.
As Joshua approached Jericho, he noticed that “a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn.” Joshua was concerned, so he asked, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” He got a strange answer: “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” At this Joshua knew that he was in the presence of God Himself! So, knowing that he was outranked—and grateful for it, he asked, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?” Reporting to Jesus and recognizing that He was the Son of God, Joshua is humbly anxious for His orders. Joshua knew he could never succeed without his obedience to this “Commander of the army of the Lord,” who is the Son of God incarnate. Without Jesus as His Leader, Joshua could never have taken Jericho, which was the beginning of the taking of the Promised Land. Jericho was only one of many battles to come!
To all Christian prayer warriors, I would remind us that without the fullness and anointing of the Holy Spirit the church will never win the battle against the demonic forces operating in the heavenlies who are seeking to paralyze the church and destroy the American nation. God gave our founding fathers wisdom, courage, and faith to pray their way into forming a nation that would be like a shining city on the hill to attract and inspire all the nations in the world. But Satan has other plans for America. He is out to destroy it with division, hatred, moral insanity, violence, and atheism.
To all Christian prayer warriors, I would remind us that without the fullness and anointing of the Holy Spirit the church will never win the battle against the demonic forces operating in the heavenlies who are seeking to paralyze the church and destroy the American nation. God gave our founding fathers wisdom, courage, and faith to pray their way into forming a nation that would be like a shining city on the hill to attract and inspire all the nations in the world. But Satan has other plans for America. He is out to destroy it with division, hatred, moral insanity, violence, and atheism.
Monday, September 21, 2020
The Family of God - by Jim Tharp
“...Christ is the head of the church, the body of which He is the Savior... Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to Himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:23, 25-27, NRSV)
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers... And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41-42, 47, NKJV)
“Let us not neglect our church meetings as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25, TLB)
God’s plan for your life includes the Church! With all the criticism hurled against it—and some of it is deserved—the Church is still God’s organization for accomplishing His will on earth. Persons who oppose the Church make themselves enemies of God. The professing Christian who neglects the Church is guilty of holding God in contempt.
What Is the Church?
The Church is the Building of God. (Ephesians 2:21; I Corinthians 3:9) God’s main business in history is that of building His Church. In the ancient times He called out a people in whom He might manifest His glory and through whom He might speak to the world. In these times He has a covenant sealed in the Blood of His own Son with a people in whom He would put His Spirit and Life and Power.
The Church is the Body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12; Colossians 1:18) He is the Head of the Body, and with each believing and obeying member He shares His Life. Through the Church our Risen Lord works out His redemptive and eternal purposes.
The Church is the Bride of Christ. (Ephesians 5:25; II Corinthians 11:2) He gave Himself for His Church. Like a Bridegroom toward his Bride, Christ has pledged to love and protect His beloved. He demands faithfulness on the part of each follower. He has promised to come again for those who prove true and catch them away to The Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
But His spiritual body must take visible form. The Church must be organized. Whether it belongs to a national, independent, or denominational organization, the local Christian cell or congregation is the most vital body for the individual Christian.
God has called you to be a part of the Building, the Body, and the Bridehood of Christ. The Church was purchased by the Blood of Christ and brought to birth by the Holy Spirit, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” it. So, do not allow the critics on the outside nor the hypocrites on the inside to keep you from becoming a member of the congregation that represents the Body of Christ!
Which Church is Right?
What Church should I join? Well, the Bible is not going to tell you what denomination to affiliate with, but the Holy Spirit will lead you in your selection of a Church. The Bible does show us an example in the Early Church as pictured in the Book of Acts.
Join a Church where the Word is preached! Social action groups and studies in psychology and intellectual calisthenics all have their place, but if these form the big show where you are trying to find spiritual food, move on fast! Go where the minister preaches the Bible with his or her soul as well as his or her mind. Only the person of God whose heart, mind, and life are judged by the Word can feed your soul.
Join a Church where Bible doctrines are taught without apology! Don’t get trapped in a faithless environment where good men and women apologize for the directness of such Christian doctrines as God, Sin, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the New Birth, Sanctification, the Second Coming, Death, Hell, and the Judgment.
Join a Church where Christian love and fellowship find warm expression. You need to be loved, and you must give love. You must have a sense of belonging. Christians must accept you as you are, and you must accept your fellow members as they are. If you cannot feel strongly that mutual acceptance, then you are trying to adopt the wrong family.
Join a Church that requires something of you! There are plenty of religious clubs around that will let you off easy, if that is what you want. They will let you enroll and then let you alone. But a Bible-centered, Christ-worshiping, Spirit-filled Church will make some demands of its members. From the pulpit, by its discipline and through the programs introduced, the Church must expect discipline, devotion, loyalty, time, regularity, creativity, and finances from its members.
Join a Church that really makes an event of its services! If you are going to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you need to belong to a Church that makes its services the most important hours of the week in the lives of its people. The pastor and staff must pray, plan, and present the entire order under the leadership of the Spirit. Every portion must be put to the test of prayer beforehand and surrendered to the Holy Spirit during the service itself. You will be able to look forward to such an event with joy and bring your guests with delight.
Join a Church that believes in the leadership of the Holy Spirit! Who seems to be sovereign? –-The pastor? The Church Board? A few influential laymen? Or the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is allowed freedom, then the Church will be free. The atmosphere will be spiritual. There will be love. There will be power. There will be an element of the supernatural. You can make it in such a fellowship.
Join a Church that is strong in evangelism! If you were not already a Christian, could you get saved in that Church? Can you bring men and women to Jesus Christ in the Church where you are trying to worship? The Church must employ many methods of evangelism, for example, pulpit evangelism, personal evangelism, group evangelism, and fellowship evangelism.
Join a Church that invests in world missions! It must be interested in the person next door, but it must also give financially to evangelize the underprivileged continents and areas of the world. Do not hold out on world missions.
Yes, Join the Church! Do not be a spiritual orphan or a religious vagabond. Join the family of God. Belong! Get registered in officially. Take on both the opportunities and the blessings of a Church home. Of course, you are going to be disappointed with some of your new brothers and sisters. You will probably be shocked to learn that the Lord does not seem to have complete control of a few of them. You have started to follow Jesus. Launch out into the deep. Fellowship with those members who have depth, balance, and complete commitment to Christ.
Yes, Join the Church, anyway! You cannot afford to waste your time and wear yourself out in a futile search for the perfect Church. In spite of the fact that the Church is called unto Holiness, you will discover that every believer has his or her imperfections—and this includes you. But we can remember and remind each other, “God isn’t through with us yet!” So, pray for the Spirit to do His cleansing and polishing in your Christian life.
And, Yes, Stay in the Church! You have been accepted into the family of God. You have adopted the membership, and they are your brothers and sisters. You have adopted the Pastor and he or she is your shepherd. You have adopted the doctrines of the Word, and they have formed your way. You have adopted the programs of the Church, and they become your ministry. For all of this life and throughout eternity, you will rejoice that you are part of the family of God!
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers... And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:41-42, 47, NKJV)
“Let us not neglect our church meetings as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25, TLB)
God’s plan for your life includes the Church! With all the criticism hurled against it—and some of it is deserved—the Church is still God’s organization for accomplishing His will on earth. Persons who oppose the Church make themselves enemies of God. The professing Christian who neglects the Church is guilty of holding God in contempt.
What Is the Church?
The Church is the Building of God. (Ephesians 2:21; I Corinthians 3:9) God’s main business in history is that of building His Church. In the ancient times He called out a people in whom He might manifest His glory and through whom He might speak to the world. In these times He has a covenant sealed in the Blood of His own Son with a people in whom He would put His Spirit and Life and Power.
The Church is the Body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12; Colossians 1:18) He is the Head of the Body, and with each believing and obeying member He shares His Life. Through the Church our Risen Lord works out His redemptive and eternal purposes.
The Church is the Bride of Christ. (Ephesians 5:25; II Corinthians 11:2) He gave Himself for His Church. Like a Bridegroom toward his Bride, Christ has pledged to love and protect His beloved. He demands faithfulness on the part of each follower. He has promised to come again for those who prove true and catch them away to The Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
But His spiritual body must take visible form. The Church must be organized. Whether it belongs to a national, independent, or denominational organization, the local Christian cell or congregation is the most vital body for the individual Christian.
God has called you to be a part of the Building, the Body, and the Bridehood of Christ. The Church was purchased by the Blood of Christ and brought to birth by the Holy Spirit, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” it. So, do not allow the critics on the outside nor the hypocrites on the inside to keep you from becoming a member of the congregation that represents the Body of Christ!
Which Church is Right?
What Church should I join? Well, the Bible is not going to tell you what denomination to affiliate with, but the Holy Spirit will lead you in your selection of a Church. The Bible does show us an example in the Early Church as pictured in the Book of Acts.
Join a Church where the Word is preached! Social action groups and studies in psychology and intellectual calisthenics all have their place, but if these form the big show where you are trying to find spiritual food, move on fast! Go where the minister preaches the Bible with his or her soul as well as his or her mind. Only the person of God whose heart, mind, and life are judged by the Word can feed your soul.
Join a Church where Bible doctrines are taught without apology! Don’t get trapped in a faithless environment where good men and women apologize for the directness of such Christian doctrines as God, Sin, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the New Birth, Sanctification, the Second Coming, Death, Hell, and the Judgment.
Join a Church where Christian love and fellowship find warm expression. You need to be loved, and you must give love. You must have a sense of belonging. Christians must accept you as you are, and you must accept your fellow members as they are. If you cannot feel strongly that mutual acceptance, then you are trying to adopt the wrong family.
Join a Church that requires something of you! There are plenty of religious clubs around that will let you off easy, if that is what you want. They will let you enroll and then let you alone. But a Bible-centered, Christ-worshiping, Spirit-filled Church will make some demands of its members. From the pulpit, by its discipline and through the programs introduced, the Church must expect discipline, devotion, loyalty, time, regularity, creativity, and finances from its members.
Join a Church that really makes an event of its services! If you are going to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you need to belong to a Church that makes its services the most important hours of the week in the lives of its people. The pastor and staff must pray, plan, and present the entire order under the leadership of the Spirit. Every portion must be put to the test of prayer beforehand and surrendered to the Holy Spirit during the service itself. You will be able to look forward to such an event with joy and bring your guests with delight.
Join a Church that believes in the leadership of the Holy Spirit! Who seems to be sovereign? –-The pastor? The Church Board? A few influential laymen? Or the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is allowed freedom, then the Church will be free. The atmosphere will be spiritual. There will be love. There will be power. There will be an element of the supernatural. You can make it in such a fellowship.
Join a Church that is strong in evangelism! If you were not already a Christian, could you get saved in that Church? Can you bring men and women to Jesus Christ in the Church where you are trying to worship? The Church must employ many methods of evangelism, for example, pulpit evangelism, personal evangelism, group evangelism, and fellowship evangelism.
Join a Church that invests in world missions! It must be interested in the person next door, but it must also give financially to evangelize the underprivileged continents and areas of the world. Do not hold out on world missions.
Yes, Join the Church! Do not be a spiritual orphan or a religious vagabond. Join the family of God. Belong! Get registered in officially. Take on both the opportunities and the blessings of a Church home. Of course, you are going to be disappointed with some of your new brothers and sisters. You will probably be shocked to learn that the Lord does not seem to have complete control of a few of them. You have started to follow Jesus. Launch out into the deep. Fellowship with those members who have depth, balance, and complete commitment to Christ.
Yes, Join the Church, anyway! You cannot afford to waste your time and wear yourself out in a futile search for the perfect Church. In spite of the fact that the Church is called unto Holiness, you will discover that every believer has his or her imperfections—and this includes you. But we can remember and remind each other, “God isn’t through with us yet!” So, pray for the Spirit to do His cleansing and polishing in your Christian life.
And, Yes, Stay in the Church! You have been accepted into the family of God. You have adopted the membership, and they are your brothers and sisters. You have adopted the Pastor and he or she is your shepherd. You have adopted the doctrines of the Word, and they have formed your way. You have adopted the programs of the Church, and they become your ministry. For all of this life and throughout eternity, you will rejoice that you are part of the family of God!
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Jesus Is the Way - by Jim Tharp
"Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:5-6)
Some years ago, a poor Texas sharecropper received word that a wealthy relative in England had died and left him over a million dollars. But the miserable old fellow went on scrounging and worrying and cursing through life until he died in abject poverty. A few neighbors chipped in to give him a decent burial.
God in His love has sent the message to every sin-cursed son of Adam that He has made provision for their eternal life. But millions go right on laboring and doubting and walking in darkness. They refuse to believe the greatest story ever told.
The appalling ignorance of salvation involves the devoutly religious and the brazenly sacrilegious, the profoundly intelligent, the pathetically ignorant, the fabulously wealthy, the wretchedly poor, the genuinely sincere, and the despicably hypocritical. But not everyone!
Millions have believed. They have listened to His Word with conviction. They have believed in their hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He lived a life of perfect righteousness for them, died on the cross to pay for their sins, and returned from the grave to be their Eternal Savior and Lord! They saw the light, heard the call, and felt the change. You will find them on every continent. They come in all colors. They belong to all denominations. They represent every age.
Christians around the world form an impressive minority. They shine in the darkness. They know where they are going. They seem to know that their convictions and values are held in contempt by the present order. Still they go on—in radiance, love, power, and purpose. Having tasted the Bread of Eternal Life and drunk the new Wine of the Spirit, they refuse to turn aside to the carnal elements of a condemned world.
Why don’t you come and go with us? It is the only way to go! Let me tell you how to turn into this way. It is simple, but it is not easy!
For God So Loved the World
1. Realize that God loves you. Stop blaming Him for war and tragedy and death. Quit fussing at Him for your personal heartaches and disappointment. Open your mind to the truth that our rebellion against the goodness of God has let evil forces loose in our world. But despite all this, “God Is Love.” (1 John 4:16) He has never willed any harm to one of His creatures or children from all eternity. In the very face of our rejection of His will, “. . . God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
All Have Sinned
2. Acknowledge that you are a sinner. Do not try to justify any action in your past that violates God’s Word. Do not seek to excuse any attitude in the present that His Word might condemn. Allow yourself to be the sinner you are. Only sinners who acknowledge their sins can be saved: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) It is only a short step from owning up to sin to repentance for sin. Repentance is agreeing with God about your sin and changing your mind about your sinful way. It is having done with sin and going God’s way. 
Christ Died for Us
3. Trust in Christ alone as your Savior. Believe that His suffering on the cross paid in full for all your sins. Do not try to be your own savior through self-improvement and self-righteousness. Make certain that you see that all your good works glorify God and understand that they are the result of salvation not the cause. Salvation is a free gift. Christ took your rap. Any effort on your part to save yourself would be to hold Christ’s work for you on the cross in contempt. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
Some years ago, a poor Texas sharecropper received word that a wealthy relative in England had died and left him over a million dollars. But the miserable old fellow went on scrounging and worrying and cursing through life until he died in abject poverty. A few neighbors chipped in to give him a decent burial.
God in His love has sent the message to every sin-cursed son of Adam that He has made provision for their eternal life. But millions go right on laboring and doubting and walking in darkness. They refuse to believe the greatest story ever told.
The appalling ignorance of salvation involves the devoutly religious and the brazenly sacrilegious, the profoundly intelligent, the pathetically ignorant, the fabulously wealthy, the wretchedly poor, the genuinely sincere, and the despicably hypocritical. But not everyone!
Millions have believed. They have listened to His Word with conviction. They have believed in their hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He lived a life of perfect righteousness for them, died on the cross to pay for their sins, and returned from the grave to be their Eternal Savior and Lord! They saw the light, heard the call, and felt the change. You will find them on every continent. They come in all colors. They belong to all denominations. They represent every age.
Christians around the world form an impressive minority. They shine in the darkness. They know where they are going. They seem to know that their convictions and values are held in contempt by the present order. Still they go on—in radiance, love, power, and purpose. Having tasted the Bread of Eternal Life and drunk the new Wine of the Spirit, they refuse to turn aside to the carnal elements of a condemned world.
Why don’t you come and go with us? It is the only way to go! Let me tell you how to turn into this way. It is simple, but it is not easy!
For God So Loved the World
1. Realize that God loves you. Stop blaming Him for war and tragedy and death. Quit fussing at Him for your personal heartaches and disappointment. Open your mind to the truth that our rebellion against the goodness of God has let evil forces loose in our world. But despite all this, “God Is Love.” (1 John 4:16) He has never willed any harm to one of His creatures or children from all eternity. In the very face of our rejection of His will, “. . . God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
All Have Sinned
2. Acknowledge that you are a sinner. Do not try to justify any action in your past that violates God’s Word. Do not seek to excuse any attitude in the present that His Word might condemn. Allow yourself to be the sinner you are. Only sinners who acknowledge their sins can be saved: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) It is only a short step from owning up to sin to repentance for sin. Repentance is agreeing with God about your sin and changing your mind about your sinful way. It is having done with sin and going God’s way.
3. Trust in Christ alone as your Savior. Believe that His suffering on the cross paid in full for all your sins. Do not try to be your own savior through self-improvement and self-righteousness. Make certain that you see that all your good works glorify God and understand that they are the result of salvation not the cause. Salvation is a free gift. Christ took your rap. Any effort on your part to save yourself would be to hold Christ’s work for you on the cross in contempt. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
Monday, August 31, 2020
Contending for Our Christian Faith - by Jim Tharp
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith . . ..” (Jude 1:3)
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.” (II Timothy 1:6-8)
“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (II Timothy 4:5-8)
Jude, a half-brother of Jesus Christ and called to be one of Christ’s apostles, feels compelled to write and urge those who had believed in Jesus as their Savior to “contend earnestly for the faith.” Even though we are reading this Scripture 2,000 years after Jude wrote this warning to the early church of Jesus Christ, I think that we believers should be more serious today about contending for our Christian faith. There are reasons why we must contend for our faith. Most people who repent of their sins and trust in Christ as Savior may not realize that they are being called into a battle against evil. Christian living is spiritual warfare!
The Bible teaches us that the three enemies of the Christian are the world, the flesh, and the devil. By “the world” is meant the very spirit of the age—the system and philosophies of the world (the world trying to control our thinking); by “the flesh” is meant our own selfish natures; and, of course, “the devil” is the evil one who was thrown out of heaven because of his rebellion against God. His destiny is divinely sealed; at the end of the ages, he will be condemned to the eternal fires of Hell. As believers, we must learn to pray earnestly and read our Bibles thoroughly to learn how to defeat Satan with his lies, schemes, temptations, and other attacks.
In II Timothy 1:6-8 we are given the secret of winning our battles against the powers of Satan. The apostle Paul begins by reminding us “to stir up the gift of God which is in you.” This “gift of God” is a reference to the Holy Spirit, who is implanted within us, the very Spirit of Jesus and of God the Father. He is the spiritual Power needed to cleanse us from our carnal selfish natures, purify our hearts, and give us power over the world, the flesh, and the devil!
While the Holy Spirit is a given in our experience of being born anew in the Spirit, we are commanded to ask for His fullness of power. I urge us to hear what Jesus promised His disciples—and all of us today—in the Gospel of John, chapter 14:12-17: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
Please notice that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our “Helper!” The Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil! There are areas of power in which the Holy Spirit helps us contend for our Christian faith.
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.” (II Timothy 1:6-8)
“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (II Timothy 4:5-8)
Jude, a half-brother of Jesus Christ and called to be one of Christ’s apostles, feels compelled to write and urge those who had believed in Jesus as their Savior to “contend earnestly for the faith.” Even though we are reading this Scripture 2,000 years after Jude wrote this warning to the early church of Jesus Christ, I think that we believers should be more serious today about contending for our Christian faith. There are reasons why we must contend for our faith. Most people who repent of their sins and trust in Christ as Savior may not realize that they are being called into a battle against evil. Christian living is spiritual warfare!
The Bible teaches us that the three enemies of the Christian are the world, the flesh, and the devil. By “the world” is meant the very spirit of the age—the system and philosophies of the world (the world trying to control our thinking); by “the flesh” is meant our own selfish natures; and, of course, “the devil” is the evil one who was thrown out of heaven because of his rebellion against God. His destiny is divinely sealed; at the end of the ages, he will be condemned to the eternal fires of Hell. As believers, we must learn to pray earnestly and read our Bibles thoroughly to learn how to defeat Satan with his lies, schemes, temptations, and other attacks.
In II Timothy 1:6-8 we are given the secret of winning our battles against the powers of Satan. The apostle Paul begins by reminding us “to stir up the gift of God which is in you.” This “gift of God” is a reference to the Holy Spirit, who is implanted within us, the very Spirit of Jesus and of God the Father. He is the spiritual Power needed to cleanse us from our carnal selfish natures, purify our hearts, and give us power over the world, the flesh, and the devil!
Please notice that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our “Helper!” The Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil! There are areas of power in which the Holy Spirit helps us contend for our Christian faith.
Monday, August 24, 2020
PREVAILING IN PRAYER -by Jim Tharp.
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:25-28)
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:17-18)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude, verses 20-21)
Our Lord Jesus Christ is Himself our example for prevailing in prayer. Immediately after being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Jesus prayed to the Father and was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness....” (Luke 4:1) Before facing the temptations of Satan, He spent many days in prayer in that wilderness alone with His Heavenly Father.
Now Jesus’ baptism was not for Him to get saved by confessing His sins, as it was with the others who were being baptized. Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God who had become the Son of Man—He was not born with the sin virus. God the Holy Spirit had breathed into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and Jesus was born as the Savior of anyone who would believe in Him.
Before He faced the temptations of Satan to be the Overcomer, before He performed miracles, and before He suffered and died on Calvary’s cross to atone for the sins of those who would believe in Him, He became a Man of prayer. And He prayed in the power of the Holy Spirit. We read in Luke 11:1: “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’”
If American Christians would take prayer as seriously as Jesus and His disciples did, neither the churches nor our nation would be in its present darkness. At this late hour, there is no greater or more urgent command in the Bible for American believers than that found in Ephesians 5:18: “. . . be filled with the Spirit.” For prayer warriors to come against the advancing evil of our day we must be clothed with more than a good education, sound theology, and a convincing personality. The apostle Paul warns us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)
I regret reporting that many of the Christians I have met throughout my 70 years of preaching the Gospel have not been Spirit-filled Christians. I am glad to report that I have seen a good number of believers become filled with the Holy Spirit. I have been privileged across the years to pray with many of them and realize the increase of joy and power in their praying. Many of them have encouraged special prayer meetings to pray for revivals and have been used by the Holy Spirit to fast and pray for spiritual awakenings in the churches where they worship.
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:17-18)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude, verses 20-21)
Our Lord Jesus Christ is Himself our example for prevailing in prayer. Immediately after being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Jesus prayed to the Father and was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness....” (Luke 4:1) Before facing the temptations of Satan, He spent many days in prayer in that wilderness alone with His Heavenly Father.
Now Jesus’ baptism was not for Him to get saved by confessing His sins, as it was with the others who were being baptized. Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God who had become the Son of Man—He was not born with the sin virus. God the Holy Spirit had breathed into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and Jesus was born as the Savior of anyone who would believe in Him.
Before He faced the temptations of Satan to be the Overcomer, before He performed miracles, and before He suffered and died on Calvary’s cross to atone for the sins of those who would believe in Him, He became a Man of prayer. And He prayed in the power of the Holy Spirit. We read in Luke 11:1: “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’”
If American Christians would take prayer as seriously as Jesus and His disciples did, neither the churches nor our nation would be in its present darkness. At this late hour, there is no greater or more urgent command in the Bible for American believers than that found in Ephesians 5:18: “. . . be filled with the Spirit.” For prayer warriors to come against the advancing evil of our day we must be clothed with more than a good education, sound theology, and a convincing personality. The apostle Paul warns us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)
I regret reporting that many of the Christians I have met throughout my 70 years of preaching the Gospel have not been Spirit-filled Christians. I am glad to report that I have seen a good number of believers become filled with the Holy Spirit. I have been privileged across the years to pray with many of them and realize the increase of joy and power in their praying. Many of them have encouraged special prayer meetings to pray for revivals and have been used by the Holy Spirit to fast and pray for spiritual awakenings in the churches where they worship.
Monday, August 17, 2020
The Power of Christian Love - by Jim Tharp
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...” (I Corinthians 13:2-8)
In considering the all-important subject of divine love as experienced in the hearts of Christian believers, I feel led to divide this message on the power of Christian love into three parts.
1. THE PREEMINENCE OF LOVE. As we read in I Corinthians 13, love is supreme, meaning it is above all other spiritual gifts in degree and quality. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, love entered the world. In Jesus Christ we see love defined as meant by our Creator. Before Christ, it is true that Greek philosophers sought to explain what love is. But the natural man alone, no matter how brilliant, cannot deal thoroughly with the inevitable corrupt human nature. All of us have sinned and fallen short of what and who we were meant to be. Only the believer in Christ, one who has experienced a spiritual new birth, can understand true love as it was meant by our Creator. This is explained in I John 4, verses 7-11: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
Monday, August 10, 2020
THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER - by Jim Tharp
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.. . .” (Ephesians 6:17-18)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude, verses 20-21).
The weakness of prayer in our churches today is due to our lack of knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Too many Christian believers, though convicted of sin and saved by the power of the Holy Spirit, do not go on to become filled with the Spirit. The scriptures quoted above should help us understand that unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our praying will be a religious form but devoid of power. We receive the Holy Spirit when we become a Christian, but at that time we are not ready for the Spirit’s fullness. In trying to live the Christian life, we soon learn we need more power—power to pray, power to resist temptation, and power to understand the Scriptures we read.
But, when we make up our minds to want this power, we have to ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When we are hungry enough to surrender our hearts and lives to Christ and allow Him to come first, we are ready to be filled with the Spirit. But, of course, we must continue to obey the Spirit in order keep praying in power.
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.. . .” (Ephesians 6:17-18)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude, verses 20-21).
The weakness of prayer in our churches today is due to our lack of knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Too many Christian believers, though convicted of sin and saved by the power of the Holy Spirit, do not go on to become filled with the Spirit. The scriptures quoted above should help us understand that unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our praying will be a religious form but devoid of power. We receive the Holy Spirit when we become a Christian, but at that time we are not ready for the Spirit’s fullness. In trying to live the Christian life, we soon learn we need more power—power to pray, power to resist temptation, and power to understand the Scriptures we read.
Monday, August 3, 2020
Rivers of Living Water - by Jim Tharp
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)
The above precious words, which were spoken by Jesus a short while before He died on the cross to save lost souls, should be stamped in gold letters on every Christian believer! Many people had gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, and it was the last day of the feast when all the ceremonies had come to a close. At this critical moment Jesus stepped forward to speak out clearly with conviction and compassion, seeking to impress upon believers that His work would not be finished when He had been slain on the cross and had risen from the dead. He would then return to heaven to be with His Heavenly Father, and they would send the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower praying believers who were hungry for what Jesus had promised—these “rivers of living water.”
That morning finally came, when after His crucifixion on the third day and after 40 days of appearing as the Risen Christ among His believers, Jesus spoke His final words to 500 believers gathered to hear Him. We read in Acts 1:4-8 that He commanded them that they were not to depart from Jerusalem until they had returned to that city to begin praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As soon as Jesus had spoken those words in verse 8, He ascended to heaven. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.” (Acts 1:10-12)
Finally, 120 of those 500 followers of Jesus made their way to that Upper Room to pray ten days for those “rivers of living water!” And, we read in Acts 2:1-4 how Christ kept His promise to send the Holy Spirit to those who met His conditions: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Throughout the second chapter of Acts we see the power of these “rivers of living water” flowing through the apostles and believers who had been filled with the Holy Spirit. This same power that had been within Jesus was now ready to work within these Spirit-filled believers! The Holy Spirit would use their message to convict lost souls of sin, calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. On the first day, 3,000 people heard the Gospel, repented of sin, believed in Jesus as Savior, were baptized, and became part of the first Christian Church in Jerusalem. The Church Age had begun. The Holy Spirit would empower the messengers to spread the Gospel to the ends of earth as long as believers hungered for “rivers of living water!”Thursday, July 23, 2020
Christ Calls His Church to Power - by Jim Tharp
The first chapter of the book of Acts is a call to the followers of Jesus to prepare for receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, which is to come upon those who will prepare for their baptism with the Holy Spirit. He wants them to know that it will be a time of waiting in prevailing prayer. Realizing their human weaknesses, Jesus instructs them that they are not to begin spreading His Gospel message until they are empowered to do so.
Jesus had been the perfect model for preparing His followers to spread His Gospel to the ends of the earth. John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the gathered crowds along the Jordan River, and at Jesus’ request, he baptized Him so that He could identify with sinners who were repenting and being baptized. Jesus Himself was filled with the Holy Spirit, even as He arose from the water. The Sinless Son of God, who had incarnately become the Son of Man, realized that He in His human role would need the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish His mission. John the Baptist had told the crowds: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
Monday, July 13, 2020
The Human Soul - By Jim Tharp
As a preacher of the Gospel, I want to write about an especially important subject today—THE HUMAN SOUL! I realize that this is a subject to which many people do not wish to give serious concern. In fact, the soul of man is not something that most philosophers want to discuss. And, unfortunately, it is a subject that many theologians are hesitant to address. So, as a preacher of the Gospel for 74 years, but now as an old man of 90, I feel the need to write about the importance of the human soul and its destiny. I could not afford to ignore this important subject while pastoring for 46 years and then evangelizing throughout the world for 27 more years. And now, since I am confined to printing the Gospel messages instead of preaching the Gospel, I cannot be silent on the importance of the human soul.
Please read and consider what our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died to save our souls, had to say about the soul of man:
Mark 8:35-38: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
John 3:16-21: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
I want to stress this important truth: The soul of man is an internal spiritual gift by our Divine Creator. This fact speaks clearly and loudly to the importance of human life. The soul of man is a serious subject. We can see the seriousness of the soul when we realize that God foreknew the invasion Satan would make on Adam’s race and the tragic results. He knew that His own remedy for the salvation of fallen souls would have to be His sacrifice of His one-and-only righteous Son, who would become incarnate. The Son of God would become the Son of Man and suffer and pay the debt of any lost soul who would believe in Him, repent of sin, and become a true Christian believer. From the beginning, God decreed that the wages of sin would be death. And since all have sinned, death would come to all. But what a glorious destiny awaits the soul at death who has believed in the only plan of salvation through Jesus Christ; the heart ceases to beat and the brain dies, but the human soul’s consciousness shifts immediately from the cerebral to the celestial, adapting instantly to the soul’s eternal existence in heaven.
How important it is that every human soul hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ as described by the apostle Paul in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..."
Let us consider some of the things our Bible has to say to us who will give an account of our response to God’s loving provisions for our salvation. In Deuteronomy 4:9, Moses says: “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.” In this Old Testament passage, Moses is being faithful to the members of God’s chosen people, the Israelites, by instructing them to take precautions concerning their never-dying souls and urging their preparation for giving a good account to God in the day of judgment as to how they have obeyed His Word.
Please read and consider what our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died to save our souls, had to say about the soul of man:
Mark 8:35-38: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
John 3:16-21: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
I want to stress this important truth: The soul of man is an internal spiritual gift by our Divine Creator. This fact speaks clearly and loudly to the importance of human life. The soul of man is a serious subject. We can see the seriousness of the soul when we realize that God foreknew the invasion Satan would make on Adam’s race and the tragic results. He knew that His own remedy for the salvation of fallen souls would have to be His sacrifice of His one-and-only righteous Son, who would become incarnate. The Son of God would become the Son of Man and suffer and pay the debt of any lost soul who would believe in Him, repent of sin, and become a true Christian believer. From the beginning, God decreed that the wages of sin would be death. And since all have sinned, death would come to all. But what a glorious destiny awaits the soul at death who has believed in the only plan of salvation through Jesus Christ; the heart ceases to beat and the brain dies, but the human soul’s consciousness shifts immediately from the cerebral to the celestial, adapting instantly to the soul’s eternal existence in heaven.
How important it is that every human soul hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ as described by the apostle Paul in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..."
Let us consider some of the things our Bible has to say to us who will give an account of our response to God’s loving provisions for our salvation. In Deuteronomy 4:9, Moses says: “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren.” In this Old Testament passage, Moses is being faithful to the members of God’s chosen people, the Israelites, by instructing them to take precautions concerning their never-dying souls and urging their preparation for giving a good account to God in the day of judgment as to how they have obeyed His Word.
Monday, July 6, 2020
The God of Nations - By Jim Tharp
“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:24-31)
I am praying that many more Americans will join me in prayer for a greater appreciation of God’s blessings on our nation over the past two and a half centuries. In the history of nations, there has never been another country that has been more blessed. Little wonder that we once sang “God Bless America!” And, now it is high time for us to plead “God, forgive us for our sins,” so that we can then sing with conviction, “God Bless America!”
Our Bible reminds us that God is the God of all nations. For almost two centuries most Americans were free to acknowledge openly the goodness of God in helping us remain unified, secure, progressive, and safe with law and order. It appeared back in those times that we were more careful to remember that our Creator warned against the dangers when nations forget their Creator and Redeemer. Those nations that forget are rapidly ripening for judgment.
How appropriate that we once sang “God Bless America” with conviction and praise! I was privileged to express my appreciation to my friend Dr. Billy Graham for his courageous decision to bring our nation out to express more openly our gratitude to God for His blessings. Billy Graham and Pastor George MacPherson, the president’s pastor at that time, went to call on President Dwight Eisenhower. After praying with the president and for the nation, the two spiritual leaders suggested that a phrase should be added to our “Pledge of Allegiance”: “one nation under God!” President Eisenhower heartily agreed, and most people rejoiced when it was approved by Congress in 1954.
I began this message with the Apostle Paul’s message to the brilliant philosophers in Athens back in the first century. In his passion and effort to open a Christian influence in that prominent city, the apostle received a cold reception. Athens response at that time was like most of our prominent cities in America today—strong resistance to Christian faith. Paul was ridiculed. This great man of God with a giant intellect, a superb education, a mighty grasp of the truth, and a loving heart, was jeered right there in Athens as a “babbler,” a “braggart,” and “a fool!”
I am praying that many more Americans will join me in prayer for a greater appreciation of God’s blessings on our nation over the past two and a half centuries. In the history of nations, there has never been another country that has been more blessed. Little wonder that we once sang “God Bless America!” And, now it is high time for us to plead “God, forgive us for our sins,” so that we can then sing with conviction, “God Bless America!”
Our Bible reminds us that God is the God of all nations. For almost two centuries most Americans were free to acknowledge openly the goodness of God in helping us remain unified, secure, progressive, and safe with law and order. It appeared back in those times that we were more careful to remember that our Creator warned against the dangers when nations forget their Creator and Redeemer. Those nations that forget are rapidly ripening for judgment.
How appropriate that we once sang “God Bless America” with conviction and praise! I was privileged to express my appreciation to my friend Dr. Billy Graham for his courageous decision to bring our nation out to express more openly our gratitude to God for His blessings. Billy Graham and Pastor George MacPherson, the president’s pastor at that time, went to call on President Dwight Eisenhower. After praying with the president and for the nation, the two spiritual leaders suggested that a phrase should be added to our “Pledge of Allegiance”: “one nation under God!” President Eisenhower heartily agreed, and most people rejoiced when it was approved by Congress in 1954.
Monday, June 29, 2020
SPIRITUAL WARFARE - by Jim Tharp
One Sunday evening several years ago something happened in Russia that we all need to know about. Dr. David Jeremiah tells about this event in the Introduction of his book, “Spiritual Warfare.” Some believers were gathered secretly in a basement to worship the Lord. While they were singing a hymn, the door was suddenly thrown open by two Russian armed soldiers, who screamed these words: “Everyone not willing to die for their faith had better get out.” Some of the people began filtering out. After a few moments, one of the soldiers shouted: “This is your last chance! Turn against your faith in Christ or suffer the consequences.” Only a faithful few remained, huddled together as a soldier shut and locked the door and strode forward. The other soldier then said quietly, “Raise your hands, but raise them in praise to God. We are Christians, too. We just wanted to know who we could trust.” I am sure that those soldiers had never heard such shouts of joy and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am indebted to this great man of God, Dr. David Jeremiah, for the report of this amazing story. This pastor’s sermons and writings have meant so much to this preacher as I have read his books and listened to his great convicting Biblical sermons he has preached on the radio and over television for the past several decades.
The story above had a positive ending, but if you were faced with a similar situation where your faith was challenged and threatened, what would you do? I believe that we live in “the Last Days,” which Jesus and His apostles predicted. I know it is time to warn American Christians to awaken to the Holy Spirit’s call to SPIRITUAL WARFARE. What I am really concerned about is my discovery during the last 35 years: In my praying and fasting for the last three decades, I am convinced that the Church of Jesus Christ in America has never been weaker and our country has never been more wicked! As a pastor for 46 years and then as an evangelist for the last three decades, I have sought to urge Christians to join God’s armies for spiritual warfare. I do have some concerns that I wish to stress in this message today.
Our Bible tells us that we are at war! The Church is being called to a war in which we are wrestling against demonic powers and rulers of this present darkness. These invisible forces are trained and ruled by Satan to destroy our faith and rob us of the power that God has promised to release on His Spirit-filled believers for these final days of spiritual warfare. Christian brothers and sisters, let us read God’s call to war in Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
I am indebted to this great man of God, Dr. David Jeremiah, for the report of this amazing story. This pastor’s sermons and writings have meant so much to this preacher as I have read his books and listened to his great convicting Biblical sermons he has preached on the radio and over television for the past several decades.
The story above had a positive ending, but if you were faced with a similar situation where your faith was challenged and threatened, what would you do? I believe that we live in “the Last Days,” which Jesus and His apostles predicted. I know it is time to warn American Christians to awaken to the Holy Spirit’s call to SPIRITUAL WARFARE. What I am really concerned about is my discovery during the last 35 years: In my praying and fasting for the last three decades, I am convinced that the Church of Jesus Christ in America has never been weaker and our country has never been more wicked! As a pastor for 46 years and then as an evangelist for the last three decades, I have sought to urge Christians to join God’s armies for spiritual warfare. I do have some concerns that I wish to stress in this message today.
Our Bible tells us that we are at war! The Church is being called to a war in which we are wrestling against demonic powers and rulers of this present darkness. These invisible forces are trained and ruled by Satan to destroy our faith and rob us of the power that God has promised to release on His Spirit-filled believers for these final days of spiritual warfare. Christian brothers and sisters, let us read God’s call to war in Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
Monday, June 22, 2020
A CALL TO PRAYER - By Jim Tharp
Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth as the Son of God, becoming the Son of Man, being born of a woman, taking on human flesh and blood to offer Himself in death on a cross, and sacrificing in death as the atoning Savior for anyone who would believe in Him as the Son of God risen from the dead.
Jesus Christ became incarnate in order to save lost souls. He alone was qualified to atone for our sins. Adam’s sinful disobedience in the Garden of Eden would cause the virus of sin in every one of his human offspring. But in John’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 16-19 we read of God’s merciful plan of salvation: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
After Jesus had suffered and died for our sins on the cross and had been resurrected, He spent 40 more days on earth proving that He had finished His earthly mission of preparing for the salvation of anyone who would believe in Him. When He was ready to ascend back into heaven, he met with 500 people who had already believed in Him. His final instruction to them was a serious command: GO BACK INTO THE CITY OF JERUSALEM AND PRAY FOR THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON Y0U FOR THE POWER TO SPREAD HIS GOSPEL TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, BEGINNING IN JERUSALEM (Acts 1:2-8).
Jesus was Himself a Man of prayer. As the Son of God, having become the Son of Man, He felt the need of prayer. As God, He answers prayer; as Man, He prayed. While on earth He found places to pray—in homes, synagogues, mountain tops, and open fields. As an example for His disciples, He was devoted to His Heavenly Father and expressed His love and worship for Him in prayer. He often prayed alone, but He also often prayed with His disciples. Once, when they heard Jesus praying and realized that He always got answers to His prayers, they cried out, “Lord, teach us to pray... “(Luke 11:1)
After that Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers, the early church learned to pray in power. As we read throughout the book of Acts, we learn how the power of prayer spread the Gospel with such power that hundreds of thousands were drawn to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Knowing that Satan would seek to defeat His followers by seeking to keep them from prayer, Jesus not only taught them to pray, but He also inspired His apostles to urge Christians to “pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) Satan fears the prayers of Christian believers more than anything else in the church’s warfare against evil. He seeks to prevent prayer because it is the most powerful weapon the Christian has in spiritual warfare. The apostle Paul was inspired to write in Ephesians 6:10-13 how to prepare for this invisible warfare: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
The church has been at warfare for many centuries. God continues to call His church to be prepared for even more serious warfare in the last days. Satan has from the beginning of the Church Age sought to prevent lost souls from hearing the Gospel. In II Corinthians 4:3-5 we read: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.”
The spiritual conflict of the ages grows more violent as civilization moves closer to the end of the Church Age. Behind the horrible signs of our times there rages this invisible war. The sweeping changes spiritually, politically, morally, socially, and economically are but symptoms of what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called “a fight of cosmic proportions.” And then Solzhenitsyn went on to add, “the forces of evil are already believing they are nearing their final offensive.”
Prayer is our most powerful weapon against the bold evil conditions of our times. But the kind of praying that will win the war we are fighting will have to be anointed, inspired, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, as we read in Ephesians 6:17-18: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints...”
In closing this message, I want to share what I have personally learned in my last 35 years of praying in the power of the Holy Spirit: (1) The Holy Spirit ENLIGHTENS OUR MINDS for understanding how to pray the will of God, (2) The Holy Spirit EMPOWERS OUR WILL TO FAST AND PRAY without fainting, and (3) The Holy Spirit EMBOLDENS OUR FAITH TO BELIEVE that we will receive what we are praying for!
Believe me, brothers and sisters in Christ, God is calling out more and more believers to take seriously the lateness of the hour. He wants us to ask for fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit to prepare His church and the world for the greatest spiritual awakening in the history of His church! When we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are not shadow boxing; we are putting to flight the demonic forces of evil that are invading our nation and robbing believers of their faith. God is blowing reveille for a mighty invasion against the evil forces of our day that seek to destroy our nation. God is calling His Spirit-anointed prayer warriors to plead for His opening of the heavens on our nation with conviction of sin that will bring repentance and faith for a glorious spiritual awakening! This is God’s plan for preparing our nation and the whole world for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This writer’s prayer is: PLEASE, HOLY SPIRIT, GIVE MILLIONS OF YOUR BELIEVERS HERE IN AMERICA AN EAR TO HEAR YOUR CALL TO GET A FRESH FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TO DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO YOUR PLAN TO SAVE OUR NATION AND TOUCH THE WORLD WITH THE GOSPEL BEFORE THE END COMES!
Jesus Christ became incarnate in order to save lost souls. He alone was qualified to atone for our sins. Adam’s sinful disobedience in the Garden of Eden would cause the virus of sin in every one of his human offspring. But in John’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 16-19 we read of God’s merciful plan of salvation: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
After Jesus had suffered and died for our sins on the cross and had been resurrected, He spent 40 more days on earth proving that He had finished His earthly mission of preparing for the salvation of anyone who would believe in Him. When He was ready to ascend back into heaven, he met with 500 people who had already believed in Him. His final instruction to them was a serious command: GO BACK INTO THE CITY OF JERUSALEM AND PRAY FOR THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON Y0U FOR THE POWER TO SPREAD HIS GOSPEL TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, BEGINNING IN JERUSALEM (Acts 1:2-8).
Jesus was Himself a Man of prayer. As the Son of God, having become the Son of Man, He felt the need of prayer. As God, He answers prayer; as Man, He prayed. While on earth He found places to pray—in homes, synagogues, mountain tops, and open fields. As an example for His disciples, He was devoted to His Heavenly Father and expressed His love and worship for Him in prayer. He often prayed alone, but He also often prayed with His disciples. Once, when they heard Jesus praying and realized that He always got answers to His prayers, they cried out, “Lord, teach us to pray... “(Luke 11:1)
Jesus taught them to pray, but He assured them that His promise to send the Holy Spirit upon them for power to live the Christian life would be answered as they prayed. And, we read in Acts chapters 1 and 2 how those disciples finally got around to obeying that call to prayer. In Acts 2:4, we have the account of the 120 believers who obeyed and prayed for 10 days: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit...”
After that Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers, the early church learned to pray in power. As we read throughout the book of Acts, we learn how the power of prayer spread the Gospel with such power that hundreds of thousands were drawn to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Knowing that Satan would seek to defeat His followers by seeking to keep them from prayer, Jesus not only taught them to pray, but He also inspired His apostles to urge Christians to “pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) Satan fears the prayers of Christian believers more than anything else in the church’s warfare against evil. He seeks to prevent prayer because it is the most powerful weapon the Christian has in spiritual warfare. The apostle Paul was inspired to write in Ephesians 6:10-13 how to prepare for this invisible warfare: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
The church has been at warfare for many centuries. God continues to call His church to be prepared for even more serious warfare in the last days. Satan has from the beginning of the Church Age sought to prevent lost souls from hearing the Gospel. In II Corinthians 4:3-5 we read: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.”
The spiritual conflict of the ages grows more violent as civilization moves closer to the end of the Church Age. Behind the horrible signs of our times there rages this invisible war. The sweeping changes spiritually, politically, morally, socially, and economically are but symptoms of what Alexander Solzhenitsyn called “a fight of cosmic proportions.” And then Solzhenitsyn went on to add, “the forces of evil are already believing they are nearing their final offensive.”
Prayer is our most powerful weapon against the bold evil conditions of our times. But the kind of praying that will win the war we are fighting will have to be anointed, inspired, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, as we read in Ephesians 6:17-18: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints...”
In closing this message, I want to share what I have personally learned in my last 35 years of praying in the power of the Holy Spirit: (1) The Holy Spirit ENLIGHTENS OUR MINDS for understanding how to pray the will of God, (2) The Holy Spirit EMPOWERS OUR WILL TO FAST AND PRAY without fainting, and (3) The Holy Spirit EMBOLDENS OUR FAITH TO BELIEVE that we will receive what we are praying for!
Believe me, brothers and sisters in Christ, God is calling out more and more believers to take seriously the lateness of the hour. He wants us to ask for fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit to prepare His church and the world for the greatest spiritual awakening in the history of His church! When we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are not shadow boxing; we are putting to flight the demonic forces of evil that are invading our nation and robbing believers of their faith. God is blowing reveille for a mighty invasion against the evil forces of our day that seek to destroy our nation. God is calling His Spirit-anointed prayer warriors to plead for His opening of the heavens on our nation with conviction of sin that will bring repentance and faith for a glorious spiritual awakening! This is God’s plan for preparing our nation and the whole world for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This writer’s prayer is: PLEASE, HOLY SPIRIT, GIVE MILLIONS OF YOUR BELIEVERS HERE IN AMERICA AN EAR TO HEAR YOUR CALL TO GET A FRESH FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TO DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO YOUR PLAN TO SAVE OUR NATION AND TOUCH THE WORLD WITH THE GOSPEL BEFORE THE END COMES!
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