JULY 10, 2020
Editor | Dr. Shelton Smith
Vol. LXXXVI, No. 13
Love Is the
Difference
2
July 20–23
Livestreaming From Murfreesboro
See Ad on Pages 14–15
Supreme Court
Wrong Again
22
Our Mission
Our Mandate
3
Where Is the Lord God
Who Answers Prayer?
“Elias was a man subject to like
passions as we are, and he prayed.”—
Jas. 5:17.
God hears prayer today as He
did in the days of Elijah. The Bible is
full of encouragement for Christians
to pray big prayers to a great God
and to expect mighty answers.
When the time came for Elijah
to go to Heaven, would miracles
cease? Would the wondrous works
which God had done through
Elijah never be seen again? The
“sons of the prophets” all apparently
agreed that with his passing, won -
derful answers to prayer would
cease.
That is, all but one man, Elisha,
who “poured water on the hands
of Elijah.” Let us read how he felt
about it.
“And it came to pass, when the LORD
would take up Elijah into heaven by
a whirlwind, that Elijah went with
DR. JOHN R. RICE
(1895–1980)
Elisha from Gilgal.
“And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry
here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath
sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said
unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
So they went down to Bethel.”
“And it came to pass, when they
were gone over, that Elijah said unto
Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee,
before I be taken away from thee.
And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a
double portion of thy spirit be upon
me.”
“And it came to pass, as they still
went on, and talked, that, behold,
there appeared a chariot of fire, and
horses of fire, and parted them both
asunder; and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven.”
“And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him, and smote the
waters, and said, Where is the LORD
God of Elijah? and when he also had
smitten the waters, they parted hither
and thither: and Elisha went over.”—
II Kings 2:1,2,9,11, 14.
That forthcoming event that
Elijah was to be taken to Heaven
was known to all; but only Elisha
Continued on p 25 ▶
Bankrupt Sinners
“There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors: the one owed
five hundred pence, and the other
fifty.
“And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly forgave them both.
Tell me therefore, which of them will
love him most?
“Simon answered and said, I
suppose that he, to whom he forgave
most. And he said unto him, Thou
hast rightly judged.”—Luke 7:41–43.
There are about twenty-five
parables or parabolic illustrations
in the Gospel of Luke. This parable
is called the parable of the two
debtors. In order to understand it,
an understanding of the setting is
important.
The story is well known. There
are three people involved: Simon
the Pharisee who invited Jesus into
his house for dinner; the woman
“which was a sinner” (“sinner” here
is a synonym for “harlot”); and, of
course, Jesus.
DR. CURTIS HUTSON
(1934–1995)
What the Parable Does
NOT Teach
Before we look at what the
parable teaches, let us see what it
does not teach. I had always thought
the parable taught that the more
sin a person commits, the more he
Continued on p 17 ▶
Living by Faith
DR. SHELTON SMITH
Preached at the National Sword of the Lord Conference, 1996
I want to say before I read the
text, I appreciate more with every
passing day the love and the
friendship and the prayers of so
many sweet, wonderful people
who have stood by the Sword of
the Lord through many years.
Many of you know—you’ve heard
me say it from platforms across
the country—I’m a product of the
Sword of the Lord. I didn’t start
out with the independent Baptist
crowd. I went to the mailbox one
Friday and there I discovered some -
body had anonymously arranged
for a copy of the Sword to come
to my mailbox.
I was just a young preacher in
my early twenties, pastor of a little
church running thirty in Sunday
school. I was going to college full
time; was a pastor full time; and
had a young, growing family full
time. I was preaching three times
a week, doing all I knew to do;
but the results were few and far
between.
But then I got the Sword. My
heart connected with what I found
on its pages. I began to stand at
the mailbox and wait for the guy
to deliver it. Because the Sword of
the Lord came to my mailbox, things
began to change. As a result, there
was a major impact made on my
whole life and ministry.
I started preaching when I was
but a teenager. I had always been
excited about getting up to preach
from the very time that I knew
God had called me. But because
of the Sword of the Lord, I began
to learn the why, the where, the
when and the how of winning
people to Christ.
I found out that you could
actually go out on the street and
go into people’s homes and lead
them to Christ. My, what a won -
derful privilege it has been for me
Continued on p 9 ▶
It’s Time We Had
REVIVAL!
When you survey the seven
churches of Asia Minor (Rev. 2–3),
you can see how easily and how
quickly the churches can get off
track and in need of a revival of
good and right things.
In Paul’s epistle to Titus, we dis -
cover that although the church or
churches in Crete were functional,
it was necessary for Titus to “set in
order the things that [were] want -
ing” (1:5).
In the Old Testament we hear
King David praying, “Wilt thou not
revive us again: that thy people
may rejoice in thee?” (Ps. 85:6).
You may remember the prayer
of Habakkuk: “O LORD, revive thy
work in the midst of the years” (3:2).
Today in twenty-first-century
DR. SHELTON SMITH
America the need is once again
very obvious across our nation and
around the world.
The World at Its Worst
You will not need your bifocals to
see that our world is getting crazier
by the day. Frankly, we have ex -
pected it to do so, because the
Lord told us that it would. Take a
quick look at II Timothy, chapter 3.
“Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof.”—Vs. 5.
“Ever learning, and never able to
come to the knowledge of the truth.”—
Vs. 7.
“Yea, and all that will live godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Continued on p 24 ▶