Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sermons and Lessons
INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTHOR
Sadhu Sundar Singh has been called the St. Paul of India. His conversion to Christ is one of the great stories of the faith. Sundar was raised a Sikh and so had studied intently the holy book of the Sikh religion, the Granth Sahib, and also the Hindu sacred book, the Gita. His piety even as a child was known throughout the region.
Sundar's mother died when he was just a teenager, and her death threw the young man into overwhelming grief. He railed at God, even publicly burning the Bibles of the Christian missionaries of the area.
Finally, Sundar's despair led him to plan his own death. For three days and nights he stayed in his room. "If God wants me to live, let him say so," he exclaimed. "Oh God, if there be a God, reveal yourself to me tonight." His plan was simple and carefully thought out: if God did not speak to him before morning, he would go out to the railway line, lay his head on the rails, and wait in the darkness for the 5:00 AM. train from Ludhiana to end his misery. For seven hours he waited in silent meditation. At 4:45 A.M., witnesses Sundar, a bright cloud of light suddenly filled his room and out of the brightness came the face and figure of Jesus. Sundar had been expecting Krishna or one of his own gods, but not Jesus. Yet, he was certain it was Jesus. He spoke to Sundar in Hindustani: "How long are you going to persecute me? I died for you. For you I gave my life. You were praying to know the right way; why don't you take it? I am the Way."
As a result of this vision, Sundar's life was dramatically and irrevocably changed and he was led into one of the most remarkable ministries of the twentieth century.
EXCERPTS FROM WITH AND WITHOUT CHRIST
1. A Hidden and Inexhaustible Mine
It is very difficult to explain the deep experience of the inner life. As Goethe has said: "The highest cannot be spoken." But it can be enjoyed and put into action. This is what I mean. One day, during my meditation and prayer, I felt his presence strongly. My heart overflowed with heavenly joy. I saw that in this world of sorrow and suffering there is a hidden and inexhaustible mine of great joy of which the world knows nothing, because even those who experience it are not able to speak of it adequately and convincingly.
I was anxious to go down to the neighboring village to share that joy with others. But, because of my physical illness, there arose a conflict between my soul and my body. The soul wanted to go but the body lagged behind. But finally I overcame and dragged my sick body and told the people in the village what Christ's presence had done for me and would do for them.
They knew that I was ill and that there was some inner compulsion which urged me to speak to them. Thus, though I was unable to explain all that Christ?s presence had meant to me, that deep experience had been translated into action and people had been helped. Where the tongue is lacking, life, through action, reveals the reality. As St. Paul says: "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6, NIV).
2. God's Sweet and Life-Giving Presence
As some insects with their antennae feel their surroundings and distinguish between hurtful and useful things, so spiritual people, through their inner senses, avoid dangerous and destructive influences and enjoy God's sweet and life-giving presence; they are constrained by their blissful experience to bear witness to God. As Tertullian has said: "Whenever the soul comes to itself and attains something of its natural soundness, it speaks of God."
Almost everyone has an inner capacity - some more, some less - to sense spiritual truths without knowing how they have attained them. As someone has said: "They know without knowing how." For instance, Colburn, when six years old, was asked how many seconds there are in eleven years. In four seconds he gave the correct answer. When questioned as to how he had arrived at the answer, all he could say was that the answer had come to his mind. Just so God reveals spiritual realities to those who seek to live according to his will.
3. Those Without the Joyful Inner Life in God
The will to live, which is present in every person, is an impulse urging us to carry life to its perfection, that is, to that state in which the purpose of God for each life will be fulfilled, so that we will be eternally happy in Him. On the other hand, to those who are without the experience of the joyful inner life in God, life is a burden. Schopenhauer was one of these; he said: "Life is hell."
There is nothing strange in such people wanting to commit suicide. As a result of the teaching of the Greek philosopher, Hegesias, many young men committed suicide. Also, several philosophers like Zeno, Empedocles, and Seneca, put an end to their lives. But the strange thing is that their philosophy did not show them how to remove those things which made them unhappy instead of destroying their lives.
Such is the philosophy of the world (James 3:15). Although some, who are tired of this life on account of its struggles and anxieties, may repress the will-to-live, but cannot repress the will-to-believe. Even if they have no belief in God or in any other spiritual reality, they have at least a belief in their unbelief, though Pyrrho said: "We cannot even be sure that we are not sure.
4. Satisfying the Inner Craving
The inner life cannot be freed by changing the place or by killing the body, but only by putting off the "old person" and putting on the new person, thus passing from death to life. Those who go astray, instead of satisfying their inner craving in the Creator, try to satisfy it in their own crooked ways. The result is that, instead of being happy and satisfied, they become miserable.
For instance, a thief who is stealing and hoarding things as a means of happiness is not only missing his happiness, but by his acts of theft is destroying the very capacity for it. That capacity is deadened by his sinful conduct. And if he loses the sense of the sinfulness of theft and his conscience does not feel remorse, he has already committed spiritual suicide. He has not only killed the capacity but has killed the soul which had the capacity.
5. Satisfying This Tiny Heart
Real joy and peace do not depend on power, kingly wealth, or other material possessions. If this were so, all people of wealth in the world would be happy and contented, and princes like Buddha, Mahavira, and Bhartari would not have renounced their kingdom. But this real and permanent joy is found only in the Kingdom of God, which is established in the heart when we are born again.
The secret and reality of this blissful life in God cannot be understood without receiving, living, and experiencing it. If we try to understand it only with the intellect, we will find our effort useless. A scientist had a bird in his hand. He saw that it had life, and, wanting to find out in what part of the bird's body the life was, he began dissecting the bird. The result was that the very life of which he was in search disappeared mysteriously. Those who try to understand the inner life merely intellectually will meet with a similar failure. The life for which they are looking will vanish in the analysis.
In comparison with this big world, the human heart is only a small thing. Though the world is so large, it is utterly unable to satisfy this tiny heart. Our ever growing soul and its capacities can be satisfied only in the infinite God. As water is restless until it reaches its level, so the soul has no peace until it rests in God.
6. The Eternally Growing Soul
The material body cannot keep company forever with the spirit. After fulfilling its purpose for some time as the instrument of the soul for its work in the world, the body begins to refuse, through weakness and old age, to go along with the spirit any further. This is because the body cannot keep pace with the eternally growing soul.
Although the soul and body cannot live together forever, the fruits of the work which they have done together will remain forever. So it is necessary to lay carefully the foundation of our eternal life. But the pity of it is that we, by the misuse of freedom, can lose it forever. Freedom means the capacity to do either good or bad deeds. By constantly choosing to do bad deeds, we become slaves of sin and destroy our freedom and life (John 8:21, 34).
By giving up our sins, on the other hand, and by following the truth, we are made free forever (John 8:32). The works of those who are thus made free and spend all their life in God?s service, that is, of those who die in the Lord, will follow them (Rev. 14:13). To die in the Lord does not mean death, for the Lord is "the Lord of the living and not of the dead," but to die in the Lord means losing oneself in his work. As the Lord said: "Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it" (Luke 9:24).
7. The Habit Formed Now
We ought to make the best possible use of God-given opportunities and should not waste our precious time by neglect or carelessness. Many people say: there is plenty of time to do this or that; don?t worry. But they do not realize that if they do not make good use of this short time, the habit formed now will be so ingrained that when more time is given to us, this habit will become our second nature and we shall waste that time also. ?Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much? (Luke 16:10).
8. One Spirit, Different Results
Now it is right that every one of us should fulfill in our life the purpose of our Creator and spend that life for the glory of God and the good of others. Each of us should follow our calling and carry on our work according to our God-given gifts and capacities. "There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:4, 11, KJV).
The same breath is blown into the flute, cornet, and bagpipe, but different music is produced according to the different instruments. In the same way the one Spirit works in us, God?s children, but different results are produced, and God is glorified through them according to each one?s temperament and personality.
Related Tags: Sadhu Sundar Singh, sermon, lesson, devotional thoughts
Sadhu Sundar Singh has been called the St. Paul of India. His conversion to Christ is one of the great stories of the faith. Sundar was raised a Sikh and so had studied intently the holy book of the Sikh religion, the Granth Sahib, and also the Hindu sacred book, the Gita. His piety even as a child was known throughout the region.
Sundar's mother died when he was just a teenager, and her death threw the young man into overwhelming grief. He railed at God, even publicly burning the Bibles of the Christian missionaries of the area.
Finally, Sundar's despair led him to plan his own death. For three days and nights he stayed in his room. "If God wants me to live, let him say so," he exclaimed. "Oh God, if there be a God, reveal yourself to me tonight." His plan was simple and carefully thought out: if God did not speak to him before morning, he would go out to the railway line, lay his head on the rails, and wait in the darkness for the 5:00 AM. train from Ludhiana to end his misery. For seven hours he waited in silent meditation. At 4:45 A.M., witnesses Sundar, a bright cloud of light suddenly filled his room and out of the brightness came the face and figure of Jesus. Sundar had been expecting Krishna or one of his own gods, but not Jesus. Yet, he was certain it was Jesus. He spoke to Sundar in Hindustani: "How long are you going to persecute me? I died for you. For you I gave my life. You were praying to know the right way; why don't you take it? I am the Way."
As a result of this vision, Sundar's life was dramatically and irrevocably changed and he was led into one of the most remarkable ministries of the twentieth century.
EXCERPTS FROM WITH AND WITHOUT CHRIST
1. A Hidden and Inexhaustible Mine
It is very difficult to explain the deep experience of the inner life. As Goethe has said: "The highest cannot be spoken." But it can be enjoyed and put into action. This is what I mean. One day, during my meditation and prayer, I felt his presence strongly. My heart overflowed with heavenly joy. I saw that in this world of sorrow and suffering there is a hidden and inexhaustible mine of great joy of which the world knows nothing, because even those who experience it are not able to speak of it adequately and convincingly.
I was anxious to go down to the neighboring village to share that joy with others. But, because of my physical illness, there arose a conflict between my soul and my body. The soul wanted to go but the body lagged behind. But finally I overcame and dragged my sick body and told the people in the village what Christ's presence had done for me and would do for them.
They knew that I was ill and that there was some inner compulsion which urged me to speak to them. Thus, though I was unable to explain all that Christ?s presence had meant to me, that deep experience had been translated into action and people had been helped. Where the tongue is lacking, life, through action, reveals the reality. As St. Paul says: "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6, NIV).
2. God's Sweet and Life-Giving Presence
As some insects with their antennae feel their surroundings and distinguish between hurtful and useful things, so spiritual people, through their inner senses, avoid dangerous and destructive influences and enjoy God's sweet and life-giving presence; they are constrained by their blissful experience to bear witness to God. As Tertullian has said: "Whenever the soul comes to itself and attains something of its natural soundness, it speaks of God."
Almost everyone has an inner capacity - some more, some less - to sense spiritual truths without knowing how they have attained them. As someone has said: "They know without knowing how." For instance, Colburn, when six years old, was asked how many seconds there are in eleven years. In four seconds he gave the correct answer. When questioned as to how he had arrived at the answer, all he could say was that the answer had come to his mind. Just so God reveals spiritual realities to those who seek to live according to his will.
3. Those Without the Joyful Inner Life in God
The will to live, which is present in every person, is an impulse urging us to carry life to its perfection, that is, to that state in which the purpose of God for each life will be fulfilled, so that we will be eternally happy in Him. On the other hand, to those who are without the experience of the joyful inner life in God, life is a burden. Schopenhauer was one of these; he said: "Life is hell."
There is nothing strange in such people wanting to commit suicide. As a result of the teaching of the Greek philosopher, Hegesias, many young men committed suicide. Also, several philosophers like Zeno, Empedocles, and Seneca, put an end to their lives. But the strange thing is that their philosophy did not show them how to remove those things which made them unhappy instead of destroying their lives.
Such is the philosophy of the world (James 3:15). Although some, who are tired of this life on account of its struggles and anxieties, may repress the will-to-live, but cannot repress the will-to-believe. Even if they have no belief in God or in any other spiritual reality, they have at least a belief in their unbelief, though Pyrrho said: "We cannot even be sure that we are not sure.
4. Satisfying the Inner Craving
The inner life cannot be freed by changing the place or by killing the body, but only by putting off the "old person" and putting on the new person, thus passing from death to life. Those who go astray, instead of satisfying their inner craving in the Creator, try to satisfy it in their own crooked ways. The result is that, instead of being happy and satisfied, they become miserable.
For instance, a thief who is stealing and hoarding things as a means of happiness is not only missing his happiness, but by his acts of theft is destroying the very capacity for it. That capacity is deadened by his sinful conduct. And if he loses the sense of the sinfulness of theft and his conscience does not feel remorse, he has already committed spiritual suicide. He has not only killed the capacity but has killed the soul which had the capacity.
5. Satisfying This Tiny Heart
Real joy and peace do not depend on power, kingly wealth, or other material possessions. If this were so, all people of wealth in the world would be happy and contented, and princes like Buddha, Mahavira, and Bhartari would not have renounced their kingdom. But this real and permanent joy is found only in the Kingdom of God, which is established in the heart when we are born again.
The secret and reality of this blissful life in God cannot be understood without receiving, living, and experiencing it. If we try to understand it only with the intellect, we will find our effort useless. A scientist had a bird in his hand. He saw that it had life, and, wanting to find out in what part of the bird's body the life was, he began dissecting the bird. The result was that the very life of which he was in search disappeared mysteriously. Those who try to understand the inner life merely intellectually will meet with a similar failure. The life for which they are looking will vanish in the analysis.
In comparison with this big world, the human heart is only a small thing. Though the world is so large, it is utterly unable to satisfy this tiny heart. Our ever growing soul and its capacities can be satisfied only in the infinite God. As water is restless until it reaches its level, so the soul has no peace until it rests in God.
6. The Eternally Growing Soul
The material body cannot keep company forever with the spirit. After fulfilling its purpose for some time as the instrument of the soul for its work in the world, the body begins to refuse, through weakness and old age, to go along with the spirit any further. This is because the body cannot keep pace with the eternally growing soul.
Although the soul and body cannot live together forever, the fruits of the work which they have done together will remain forever. So it is necessary to lay carefully the foundation of our eternal life. But the pity of it is that we, by the misuse of freedom, can lose it forever. Freedom means the capacity to do either good or bad deeds. By constantly choosing to do bad deeds, we become slaves of sin and destroy our freedom and life (John 8:21, 34).
By giving up our sins, on the other hand, and by following the truth, we are made free forever (John 8:32). The works of those who are thus made free and spend all their life in God?s service, that is, of those who die in the Lord, will follow them (Rev. 14:13). To die in the Lord does not mean death, for the Lord is "the Lord of the living and not of the dead," but to die in the Lord means losing oneself in his work. As the Lord said: "Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it" (Luke 9:24).
7. The Habit Formed Now
We ought to make the best possible use of God-given opportunities and should not waste our precious time by neglect or carelessness. Many people say: there is plenty of time to do this or that; don?t worry. But they do not realize that if they do not make good use of this short time, the habit formed now will be so ingrained that when more time is given to us, this habit will become our second nature and we shall waste that time also. ?Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much? (Luke 16:10).
8. One Spirit, Different Results
Now it is right that every one of us should fulfill in our life the purpose of our Creator and spend that life for the glory of God and the good of others. Each of us should follow our calling and carry on our work according to our God-given gifts and capacities. "There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:4, 11, KJV).
The same breath is blown into the flute, cornet, and bagpipe, but different music is produced according to the different instruments. In the same way the one Spirit works in us, God?s children, but different results are produced, and God is glorified through them according to each one?s temperament and personality.
Related Tags: Sadhu Sundar Singh, sermon, lesson, devotional thoughts
