Judgement of the Saints

2 Peter 3:11-16

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

T

he day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. These things shall soon come to pass. The world and all who dwell therein shall at last face divine judgement and God’s holy wrath. And as the inhabitants of this world are judged, we Christians are also judged. Though we Christians will not be formally judged at that time, the quality of our witness will be revealed by the impact we have had on those in the world. The quality of our life and witness will be then revealed. Our obedience to Christ will be seen in those rescued from the coming wrath. It is certain that we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad [2 Corinthians 5:10].

The text today confronts us, challenging each one who names the Name of Christ, charging us to invest our best labours in His great work; and we are threatened by that confrontation. Though discomforted, we are seized by the knowledge that God shall yet judge all mankind, and each of us know some who must stand in the judgement. Some among us have trifled with God’s grace. We have said the right words, but somehow there has been no transformation of our lives. It is not in professing Christ that we are saved; it is in possessing Christ that we are saved. Though we have said we wish His salvation, we do not want to submit to Him or to call Him Master. Consequently, all among us who are yet pretending to be Christians need to be concerned that we become Christians – now, while it is day.

Everything will be destroyed. What kind of people ought we to be? This is the central question of all Christian life and service. Then, our gold and silver has corroded. Our lands and homes have turned to dust. Our fine garments have become rags. Nothing is left save the Lord; and only knowledge of Him counts in that day. The advent of that day is surprising; no one anticipates it. Suddenly, it is there! How shall we then live?

The hour is fast approaching, time is swiftly passing. Whatever we intend to do, it must be shortly done. While we dabble in petty politics, protect our transient fiefdoms and play at being religious the lost perish and all hasten toward judgement. Though we live in the shadow of eternity, we attempt to hold onto the accoutrements of the dust of the moment that we call time.

Christians are Judged by the Quality of Their Lives. You ought to live holy and godly lives. Years ago it was common to hear a thought provoking challenge to the quality of our faith and practise as followers of Christ. The question which was then frequently heard was, If Christianity were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you. The evidence that He is Lord is a transformed life … a life which is being changed into His likeness. Frankly, there is scant transformation evident in the lives of the saints today. The desperate need of the hour is transformed lives within the professing church.

The evangelical churches are today becoming mainline, and as they do so they take on the trappings of acceptable religion. Not only are we ourselves muted in our enthusiasm for Christ’s demanding presence, but we disdain those who are themselves stirred deeply by His Spirit. Not only are we ourselves content to give God a pittance of our time, but we are offended when challenged by His demand to be Master of all.

We are too often content to depend upon anything and everything except Christ. We depend upon God also. That is not Christian Faith, however. If you believe in Jesus also, He is of no use. God is of use only when you believe in God alone. Christ our Lord is not an addendum to insure that we live the abundant life; He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. If He is Lord of all, then He is Master over my thoughts, my speech, my actions. My life is being judged by all who know my profession, and it shall yet be judged in the courts of Heaven when Christ Himself shall reveal what I have been.

When the Word confronts me with the challenge that I ought to live a holy and godly life, I am compelled to examine the quality of my life. My thoughts should be thoughts worthy of Christ. None of us can lay claim to an untarnished thought life, and I do not mean that there shall never be an unworthy thought in my mind. I do mean that I must not tolerate and nourish those thoughts unworthy of Christ as Lord. Martin Luther used to say, “I cannot keep the birds from flying over my head, but I can keep them from building a nest in my hair.” Just so, I cannot keep thoughts of disobedience or evil from entering my mind unbidden, but I can insure that I do not permit them to remain there.

I can take steps to move steadily toward holiness and godliness in the matter of my thoughts. I cannot gain victory over my mind by simply deciding that I will not think of that which is evil. God always recommends replacement therapy. He never takes away that which we hold except He replaces it with that which is better. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you [Philippians 4:8,9] is the command we have received to give us victory in this area of life.

If you are losing the battle in this arena, determine that you will feed your mind only on that which is pure and godly. Read the Word. Read the great sermons of the past. Listen to taped messages which build the mind and equip you to honour God. Cancel your newspaper subscription, it is nothing save sensationalism and error for the most part. If there is something which you must know, there are plenty of people willing to tell you at the appropriate time. Drop your cable subscription and put the television in the garage so that you will not be tempted to permit the godless to indoctrinate you in the finer points of rebellion. For the most part we feast on rebellion, listen to the lies of defeat which the world sells as fact, and then marvel that we don’t seem to enjoy the blessings of God. An old adage says that one cannot live on skim milk all week long and give cream on Sunday.

I am what my mind dwells on. After a confrontation with the religious leaders, the disciples inquired of Jesus what He meant when He said, What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him “unclean,” but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him “unclean.” Jesus explained that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body … but the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man “unclean” [Matthew 15:11, 17-20]. Just as my thought life must reflect the presence of Christ, so my speech must reveal His mastery, if I will be judged worthy of His Name.

How easy it is to begin to speak as the world speaks. We become casual in speech, cursing and swearing and misusing the Name of our Saviour; and even ministers of God are effected by this trend. Since our models on screen all misuse God’s Name, we ourselves begin to do so. Since the educated and the elite of our world use coarse language, even believers, in a misguided attempt to be socially acceptable, speak thusly. “Oh, God,” has become the hallmark of contemporary speech, used as a casual response to every statement or to indicate our cool response to any situation. “Christ” is no longer the revered Title of our Saviour, but an epithet which has even lost the force of emphasis through its frequency of use. “Damn” is used so often in casual conversation that nothing will be left and no one will be safe in our world if God begins to heed our multiplied prayers. Though the world speaks thusly, Christians must resist this tendency.

This does not begin to address the banal, mindless speech which without thought destroys reputations and even individuals. Gossip and slander are the weapons used to kill more people than any handgun or rifle. It is easy to dismiss a charge against ourselves by diverting attention through character assassination. Have we lied or done evil? Say that the one bringing the charge is crazy or suffering from mental imbalance due to an injury. It seems so compassionate, when the words are both fallacious and evil.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen [Ephesians 4:29] admonished the Apostle. Later, speaking of the way in which we should live, he said: Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving [Ephesians 5:4]. We should tremble at the impact of the Master’s words that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned [Matthew 12:36,37].

Sow a thought, reap a deed, says the ancient adage. Where the mind dwells reveals what one’s actions shall shortly be. Holiness and godliness are so much more then simply going to a service of worship regularly. It may cost you to be holy in your personal life. It may cost you to be godly in the workplace. It may cost you to be righteous in your home. You may be assured of this; however, it will cost far more for you to fail to be godly and holy in that day in which Christ calls us to account.

In every church there are the regulars. I am not against regularity, but godliness must move beyond mere habit. The regulars will be present rain or shine. Whatever happens they will give their offerings and attend the services. They will support the church whatever may be requested. But ask them to do something extraordinary and they faint! Ask them to witness to a lost friend, to stand for righteousness in the workplace, to resist evil in the home, and they say you have ceased preaching and begun to tamper.

It is time that we moved beyond the banality of the moment and grasped eternity. We are in desperate need of lives marked by holiness and godliness. Frankly, we need a few good fanatics in the Christian Faith. We need people willing to weep over the lost. We need people willing to be called crazy for Christ. We need a few good people willing to be despised and rejected by this world that they may reveal the world to come.

Christians are Judged by the Anticipation with which They Live. Look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. I have purposely changed Peter’s dependent clause into an imperative statement, which does no harm to the intent of his words. We who know Christ profess to believe in His coming a second time to bring salvation for all who believe and to judge those who are outside the Faith. But do we live in anticipation of His return? Are we intent on speeding the coming of that day? Questions such as these probe the heart of our Christian life and experience.

What would it be were Christ to return before this service was completed? Would you welcome His return? Even as I ask the question, do you, in the solitude of your mind where none may ever go save for the Living God, find yourself saddened at the thought of loss? Should Christ come momentarily, will the things which please you most be forever removed from your life? Are those aspects of life which give you the greatest pleasure eternal? Or are you focused on houses and lands, stocks and debentures, cars and clothing? All these are passing away and destined for dust.

Does the fact that members of your family are yet outside of Christ concern you? How is it that we can profess to love our parents deeply and yet we dare not plead with them to believe the Good News of Jesus? How can parents be casual about their unsaved children, if those parents actually believe God? At His return there shall be imposed a great, unchanging, unalterable divide. Those outside of Him will be eternally condemned, while those who are called by His Name shall be received into His Kingdom.

As I led a service at a nursing home in Vancouver last year, I had occasion to speak with one woman who was grieving. Her grandson, a man of forty-one years of age, had passed away that same morning. One comment she made left a sobering impression on my mind. “He wasn’t saved, you know.” What a sad commentary that is. When we at last are separated from our loved ones, all that will matter is whether they were saved or not. Will my loved ones have received opportunity to know Christ because of my concern? Will I have prayed with all the power of Christ’s love? Will I have spoken in boldness of the Spirit? Will my concern for their eternal welfare be evident? Oh, that no one may charge me with negligence at the great assize.

I observe that in an age and in a nation where few if any of us know real hardship, it is difficult to focus on what lies beyond this moment we call life. Actually, we live as though the millennium has already arrived. We know no real hardship, nor do we anticipate any such ordeal. We do elevate minor reversals to the position of major catastrophes in our mind, but in reality we know neither great burdens nor demands. We have sufficient food, shelter finer than anything we actually require, homes filled with gadgets and toys. We are entertained to death, our minds dulled with sensory overload and our every need sated. We no longer need to think of Christ! We have all we need, though we are driven in an endless quest for something more … an ill-defined feeling of je ne sais qua. Why be concerned for eternity when we have no needs? Though a nagging longing remains, we can satisfy ourselves with the tawdry baubles of the moment.

We shall be called to account for the manner in which we have lived our lives, and especially shall we be called to account for the anticipation with which we awaited Christ’s promised return. Let us then invest time reflecting on the fact that He is coming! Let us invest time preparing ourselves to meet Him. Let us review the way in which we live that we shall not be embarrassed at His return. This is nothing save Christian duty.

Christians are Judged by the Commitment of Their Lives. In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. The anticipation with which we await His coming is but a reflection of the commitment of our lives to Him and to His will. We believe Jesus is coming, but perhaps He will overlook the fact that we have been casual in our service to Him. Perhaps He will understand that we had to work, had to have time to rest and refresh ourselves, had so many social obligations. He will undoubtedly understand and say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” even though we were lax in fulfilling the ministries He assigned and though we were casual about serving Him and even though we proved unreliable in our service to Him.

The quality of our Faith may be judged by its cost to us and not by how dear we profess that Faith to be. Few of us bear any scars because of the Faith, nor have we experienced persecution because of the Faith. In a sermon by D. T. Niles, a Ceylonese minister of another era, I encountered the following illustration which humbles any of us living in Canada today. The illustration speaks of commitment despite great difficulty, something which however difficult your particular situation may be, you have not been called to face in this land of opportunity and freedom.

In one of the villages of India a small little group of people became Christians. They were outcastes. They belonged to the lowest among the outcastes. They were people who used to do very low, menial work in the fields and the homes of the highcaste Hindus. And when they became Christians their landlords, their masters, refused to give them any work. Their average earning was ten American cents a day, and now they didn’t even get that. They kept going somehow for nearly a month and more, but they were starving. Their wives and children were starving. And when they sent word to their old masters and said, “We’re dying. Do something for us,” their old masters said, “Give up Jesus Christ; give up Jesus Christ and you can have work” – work that would bring them still just ten cents a day.

And one night they met together and said, “Now what do we do?” And one of the old men said, “Well, all that our masters are saying is, ‘Go to the old Hindu temple, and when you go there the priest will give you the holy ash which you rub on your forehead, and the thing is done, and at least we’ll have something to eat.” And so they sent word and said, “Yes, we’ll do it.” And they sent word to the pastor and said, “We cannot hold out any longer, we’re just starving. Our wives and children are starving, living in mud huts in squalor.” And so the next morning there were the Christian people from the next village standing, watching the sad procession, and the Hindus standing there watching the thin procession as these seventeen men walked down from their huts and stood in front of the Hindu temple. The priests went in and brought the ash and stretched it out toward the first man and at that moment something strange happened. That man folded his hands and started shaking his head. And all the seventeen men started doing the same. They said, “We cannot do it. We cannot do it.” Jesus would not let them go, and they turned back and went back to their village, back to their poverty, back to their hunger, back to their nakedness, back to the squalor and dirt, back to Jesus Christ.[1]

I cannot read the Book of Hebrews without being humbled. Though the author is stressing the better sacrifice and the better faith which is found in Christ, throughout it a note of challenge. Writing second generation Christians, He could be quite blunt. What would he write to Christians on the cusp of the Twenty-First Century? Near the conclusion of the book he states, In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood [Hebrews 12:4]. That is humbling! Which of us has been beaten for the Faith? Who among us has gone hungry because we believe Christ? Who of us has been imprisoned because we cannot forsake our Faith?

That author continues with the admonition: Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons [Hebrews 12:7,8]. Endure hardship. Live out your commitment.

I can imagine when we get to Glory a scene, a disturbing scene. ‘Ere I meet the apostles and first disciples, I meet a group of glorious saints. Rushing to greet me I am startled by the fact that they seem, even in Glory, to have marks on their bodies. All alike are resplendent in spotless robes and with glowing crowns on their heads, but it is the marks on their bodies which grips my attention. Not quite scars, they are more like chevrons, stripes which speak of nobility and character.

One from within their ranks greets me and says, “Welcome to the home of the blessed. I was John Patton. What a privilege I had to serve the Master in the South Pacific. When my child died I slept on her grave to keep the Islanders from digging up her body and eating the flesh. I was privileged to suffer much for the sake of the Master. Where are your scars?”

Another moves forward and greets me, saying, “I also welcome you to Glory. On earth I was known as Adoniram Judson. I buried three wives and two children on the field of service. I laboured for twenty-eight years despite beatings, imprisonment, and starvation, without a convert. At last I saw a handful of converts, but those converts were the foundation of a great revival among the Karens. What did the Faith cost you?”

“Before my transformation,” begins another, “I was known as Hank Blood. When Viet Cong soldiers overran the village where I served as a missionary and a translator of the Word of God, I was killed along with all the men of that village. Have you no marks of honour for your service?”

Yet another clasps my hands and greets me. “I was imprisoned in a Chinese prison because of my faith. At last, I was beheaded because I would not recant my Faith. What scars do you bear?”

And I am left speechless as at last another asks, “When did the Faith cease costing a life of commitment? When did the Master give a release from living with commitment? We did not hear of such things!” And the group turns, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ. They knew, as we do not, the meaning of Philippians 1:29, It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him. That which costs little has little value. You were purchased at infinite cost, what are you willing to give because of this precious gift? Is it too much to ask of contemporary Christians to live in light of eternity? Is it too much to ask of modern saints to look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness? Where is the commitment which characterised past generations? Is there no longer a willingness to live a life of commitment as an expression of gratitude to Christ?

Christians are Judged by their Walk with the Master. Since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. In an article in World magazine last year was an article entitled Lions vs. Pastor Lamb[2]. Pastor Lamb, who is seventy-two, has served more than twenty-one years in prison for his faith. The government has closed his house church and confiscated his property, yet he perseveres, averaging four hundred worshippers per service in four services per week.

The Public Security Bureau still calls and occasionally visits, but it doesn’t hound him like it used to. Why? “Each time they arrested me and sent me off to prison, the church grew,” he says with a smile as attractive as his faith. “Persecution was good for us. The more they persecuted, the more the church grew. That’s been the history of the church.” On July 15, 1956, during his first prison term, Pastor Lamb composed one of many hymns. He called it, Dismantling Before Rebuilding. The chorus goes,

Enlightened by God’s light, all my evil is seen. God’s hand dismantled me merciless.

Rebuild up and replant, root goes down, fruit comes up, showing the richness of holy life.

The author of that article concludes with these words: Samuel Lamb is small in stature, but he may be the biggest man I’ve ever met. Though the world will judge a man like Pastor Lamb as a fool, in our hearts we know that he has chosen the better thing. We are judged as great when we walk with the Great God. We are judged as big, when we walk with the Infinite God. No persecution is sufficient to deter the child of God from determining to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.

No doubt we have said at one time or another, “I wish I could have heard Jesus speak as He walked in Galilee.” We wish we could have been one of His disciples, following Him as He walked the hills and the valleys of ancient Judea. Reading the Word we wonder what it must have been as He blessed the loaves and fishes, what it was like to hear Him deliver the Sermon on the Mount, what it must have been when He drove the religious frauds from the Temple. We are certain that we would not have sold Him out for thirty pieces of silver, as did Judas. But we sell Him for far less in daily life!

When we are silent in the face of evil, we are selling the Master for momentary convenience. When we submit the Faith to cultural imperatives, we are selling the Master for transient values. When we refuse to witness to lost family members, to friends or to colleagues, though we know they shall be judged and though we know they are even now under divine condemnation, we are selling the Master for the sake of peace … the peace of the grave. How many of us sell Jesus for the baubles of this passing life!

Did you notice where Peter leads us? A godly life, a life which is lived in concert with the Master, is a life which seeks to win the lost. Our Lord’s patience means salvation. The churches have received a commission to witness to Him. That witness will lead us to plead with the lost, to bring those won into the fellowship of the church, to instruct all believers in the truths of God. It is greatly to be feared, however, that the church of this day is a disobedient church, neglecting that commission which He gave His people. A church that is disobedient to its commission becomes a menace to the world. Disobedient Jonah was the cause of the storm which imperilled the sailors of that ship.

Tell me where you walked this week. Did Christ walk with you? Better yet, did you discover where He was at work and there endeavour to work with Him? For too long the church has been busy, but its busyness was not the business of Christ. The business of Christ is glorifying Him through living a holy and godly life even as we win the lost.

Why are we not more effective in our witness? Why is our evangelism so anaemic? Again, among the sermons of D. T. Niles was this gem of a statement.

There are many causes for the lack of results in evangelistic work, but the primary cause always is failure in expectant love. We do not care sufficiently for people as people. We are concerned about evangelism, but this concern is largely the consequence of a desire to fulfil our evangelistic duty as Christians. Evangelism, in order to be true evangelism, must cease to be a duty; it must become an inevitability. The shepherd looking for his lost sheep is not fulfilling a duty. The mother praying for her lost child is not meeting an obligation. A church declaring God’s judgements to the people is not just obeying a call. A friend sharing his friendship with Jesus is not simply discharging a responsibility.[3]

The message this evening is not profound. I am endeavouring to confront you with God’s call. We are even now being judged; we are being judged by the life we live. The world judges the quality of our Faith and the reality of Christ’s presence is revealed in the manner by which we live that Faith each day. I am calling you to nothing less than a life marked as holy and godly. I call each believer to determine to live a life of anticipation. I call each child of God to live a life of commitment. I call you to nothing less than discovering where Christ is at work in your world … and there labour with Him.

Some of us are in desperate need of repentance. We need to repent of being so enmeshed in the accoutrements of this life that we have let our service to Christ fall. Some of us have become professional Christians … and we need to repent. We go through the motions, but there is no evidence of God’s Spirit in our work or in our life. Consequently, though we toil, there is no fruit. Though we are present at services once each week, we no longer pray with fervour, no longer read the Word with avidity, no longer seek the face of Christ among His people. Such people need to realise they are in danger of being seen as planted among thorns or as planted in rocky soil without root. Repent, change your mind concerning your service and make a fresh commitment to both grow in Christ and to bear fruit to His glory.

Others of us have left our first love. Though we still know the language of Zion and though we may even fool others concerning our love for Christ, He no longer occupies the central place in our life. The transient aspects of this dying world attract us more strongly than does the beauty of the Master. What we possess, where we are stationed in life, and who we know is far more important in our estimate than whether we walk with Christ the Lord. Such people need to repent and return to their first love.

May I say that others of us need to repent of our silence. The night is far past. The day is breaking. Soon there shall be no more opportunity to speak. If we will do any great thing for the cause of Christ, it must be now. My prayer is that we shall be a people determined to do some great thing; and may that great thing we do be that which glorifies the Name of Christ and honours our Father through the salvation of souls. Amen.

In one of the villages of India a small little group of people became Christians. They were outcastes. They belonged to the lowest among the outcastes. They were people who used to do very low, menial work in the fields and the homes of the highcaste Hindus. And when they became Christians their landlords, their masters, refused to give them any work. Their average earning was ten American cents a day, and now they didn’t even get that. They kept going somehow for nearly a month and more, but they were starving. Their wives and children were starving. And when they sent word to their old masters and said, “We’re dying. Do something for us,” their old masters said, “Give up Jesus Christ; give up Jesus Christ and you can have work” – work that would bring them still just ten cents a day.

And one night they met together and said, “Now what do we do?” And one of the old men said, “Well, all that our masters are saying is, ‘Go to the old Hindu temple, and when you go there the priest will give you the holy ash which you rub on your forehead, and the thing is done, and at least we’ll have something to eat.” And so they sent word and said, “Yes, we’ll do it.” And they sent word to the pastor and said, “We cannot hold out any longer, we’re just starving. Our wives and children are starving, living in mud huts in squalor.” And so the next morning there were the Christian people from the next village standing, watching the sad procession, and the Hindus standing there watching the thin procession as these seventeen men walked down from their huts and stood in front of the Hindu temple. The priests went in and brought the ash and stretched it out toward the first man and at that moment something strange happened. That man folded his hands and started shaking his head. And all the seventeen men started doing the same. They said, “We cannot do it. We cannot do it.” Jesus would not let them go, and they turned back and went back to their village, back to their poverty, back to their hunger, back to their nakedness, back to the squalor and dirt, back to Jesus Christ.[4]

There are many causes for the lack of results in evangelistic work, but the primary cause always is failure in expectant love. We do not care sufficiently for people as people. We are concerned about evangelism, but this concern is largely the consequence of a desire to fulfil our evangelistic duty as Christians. Evangelism, in order to be true evangelism, must cease to be a duty; it must become an inevitability. The shepherd looking for his lost sheep is not fulfilling a duty. The mother praying for her lost child is not meeting an obligation. A church declaring God’s judgements to the people is not just obeying a call. A friend sharing his friendship with Jesus is not simply discharging a responsibility.[5]

In an article in World magazine last year was an article entitled Lions vs. Pastor Lamb[6]. Pastor Lamb, who is seventy-two, has served more than twenty-one years in prison for his faith. The government has closed his house church and confiscated his property, yet he perseveres, averaging four hundred worshippers per service in four services per week.

The Public Security Bureau still calls and occasionally visits, but it doesn’t hound him like it used to. Why? “Each time they arrested me and sent me off to prison, the church grew,” he says with a smile as attractive as his faith. “Persecution was good for us. The more they persecuted, the more the church grew. That’s been the history of the church.” On July 15, 1956, during his first prison term, Pastor Lamb composed one of many hymns. He called it, Dismantling Before Rebuilding. The chorus goes,

Enlightened by God’s light, all my evil is seen. God’s hand dismantled me merciless.

Rebuild up and replant, root goes down, fruit comes up, showing the richness of holy life.

The author of that article concludes with these words: Samuel Lamb is small in stature, but he may be the biggest man I’ve ever met. Though the world will judge a man like Pastor Lamb as a fool, in our hearts we know that he has chosen the better thing. We are judged as great when we walk with the Great God. We are judged as big, when we walk with the Infinite God. No persecution is sufficient to deter the child of God from determining to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.

----

[2] Cal Thomas, Lions vs. Pastor Lamb, World, pg. 19 Volume 12, Number 13, July 26/August 2, 1997

[6] Cal Thomas, Lions vs. Pastor Lamb, World, pg. 19 Volume 12, Number 13, July 26/August 2, 1997