A Life for Christ: What the Normal Christian Life Should Look Like

by Dwight L. Moody

But the Lord wants His children to learn this lesson: They have something to do towards raising the spiritually dead.

What does revival mean? It simply means a recalling from obscurity − a finding of some hidden treasure and bringing it back to the light.

When God works, things will often be done outside the regular methods.

Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized each one of you into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Acts 2:38-39).

I have often said that if I had to convict men of sin, I would have given up the job long ago. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Our part is to scatter the good seed of the Word, and expect that God will bless it to the saving of men’s souls.

If we look for converts, we will find them. There’s no doubt about that.

I believe that for every spiritual difficulty there is some promise in the Word of God to meet that difficulty.

Many Christians are asleep, and we want to arouse them so they will take a personal interest in those living in carelessness and sin.

May God empower us to get above this, to cast away our conceit and pride, and to accept Christ as our teacher so He can show us the spirit in which His work should be done.

If we want to be wise in winning souls and to be vessels for the Master’s use, we must get rid of the accursed spirit of self-seeking.

A man can preach the truth. He can be perfectly sound in doctrine, but if there is no love in his heart going out to those whom he addresses, and if he is doing it only professionally, the apostle says he is only sounding brass.

But no one can be a true worker for God and a successful winner of souls without love.

Nothing will break the stubborn heart so quickly as the love of Christ.

In all my life, I’ve never seen men or women disappointed in receiving answers to their prayers, if they are full of faith built on solid ground.

Unbelief is as much an enemy to the Christian as it is to the unconverted.

Perhaps you have a skeptical son or an unbelieving husband, or some other member of your family who scoffs at the Bible and sneers at Christianity. Lay them at the feet of Jesus, and He will honor your faith.

To anyone unsaved reading this book, let me say that God has the power to save you from your sins today. If you want to be made new, come right to the Master as the leper did in Mark 1:40.

If thou canst believe this, all things are possible to him that believes (Mark 9:23, emphasis added). To the mothers reading this, can you believe for your boy? If you can, the Lord will speak the word, and it will be done.

Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee (Ephesians 5:14).

Remember where Elijah found Elisha? He was ploughing in the field; he was at work. Gideon was at the threshing floor. Moses was away in Horeb looking after the sheep. None of these eminent servants of God were lazy or idle.

I like to see a teacher come into the class and shake hands with the students all around. “Johnnie, how do you do? Charlie, I am glad to see you. How’s the baby? How’s your mother? How are all the folks at home?” That is the kind of a teacher I like to see.

Let me urge Sunday school teachers, again, to seek the salvation of your students.

Fathers and mothers, don’t rest until you see all your family brought into the kingdom of God.

This world isn’t going to be reached by mere human intellectual power. When we realize we have no strength, all the fullness of God will flow in on us.

All the men Christ called around Him were weak men in a worldly sense. They were all men without rank, without title, without position, without wealth or culture.

Christ said, The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).

Every one of us can do something. If we are just willing to do what we can, the Lord will consent to use us, and it will be a great thing to be an instrument in His hand so He can do with us what He will.

You are never going to reach people and do them good in that way, or by putting yourself above them. You have to come down to where they are and enter into their sorrows and troubles.