Dr. John R. Rice On the Burdens of the Ministry
(Taking a stand for the truth as a Bible-preacher always comes at a cost!!!)

By David J. Stewart | August 2018

Hebrews 12:2-3, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

       The following encouraging words, about the struggles of any Bible preacher who is persecuted for telling THE TRUTH, come from Dr. John R. Rice's (1895-1980) helpful book, “Bible Facts About Heaven”...

From Chapter 4:

The burdens of the ministry are heavy enough sometimes, God knows. There is more to be done than any one man can do. And any true preacher must lose friends for the sake of the bold, plain message that he preaches. There are tasks too heavy for any mortal. Then there is, or ought to be, the unceasing pain in the heart which Paul felt for his brethren, the Jews, willing to be accursed from Christ, and which we must feel for the unsaved multitudes, unthinking, unheeding, but for whom Christ died.

Yet there are joys and recompenses so that the work is easy and the burden is light. When human power fails, there is the power of the Holy Ghost. When others forsake, there is the very real presence of Christ even to the end of the age. And there is a payday coming, more certain than Saturday night. And not the least of a Christian's joy is that joy which takes place in Heaven over a sinner saved.

Many a time I stand and plead with sinners to come to Christ, and they do, thank God, through the power of His Gospel and of the Spirit. When they come - sometimes with glad, uplifted faces, sometimes in tears - I feel that in Heaven they make way for my mother, and she gets a front seat in the grandstand of Glory. I think I can almost hear her rejoicing as she sees her prayers being answered and her boy preaching the Gospel! Then "there is joy in heaven"!

From Chapter 5:

Many a preacher sometimes thinks of the time when he will sit under green trees or paddle in cool waters or meditate amid the grandeur of the mountains or by the seashore or perhaps simply rest at home with wife and children. Yet for multitudes of preachers and other Christians as well, that time never comes. The vacation is postponed; the honeymoon trip is never taken; there is no time for the little outing or the visit to the children or the quiet rest for study and refreshment.

But all such men should look forward to the glad day when weary hands may fold themselves. I think for tired Christians it will surely be wonderful to sit on the bank of the river of life, in the shade of trees that bear twelve manner of fruits and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations! "Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours"!

And,

A dear preacher friend of mine who was suddenly killed had started to drive more than 900 miles in half a night and a day, to begin a new series of revival services. Though a young man, he was burdened with many duties, but he bore them with great joy because, he wanted to make full proof of his ministry. He preached the Word, being instant in season and out of season. He endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. But now he will never need to hurry anymore. He is resting from his labors, and his works do follow him.

THE END

“Now you say, 'Brother Hyles, you make an issue.' You dead sure better know I'll make an issue!”
 —BATTLE OF THE AGES (MP3, Dr. Jack Hyles, “The King James Bible crowd is going to come out on top!”)

NOBODY IS LAUGHING IN HELL!!!

Did you know that you don't have to ask Jesus to save you? God has already told you how to be saved, that is, by simply believing that His Son died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and raised up from the dead three days later. Christ raised up from the dead, which means that God the Father accepted His Son's payment for the sins of the world. Christ suffered on the cross so that we wouldn't have to suffer in a literal Hell forever. Amen! You don't have to bow your head to be saved. You don't have to pray. You don't have to do anything except believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and make that your only hope for Heaven!

Nothing Can Replace The Holy Bible!

“You cannot be saved from corrupted Scripture!”
 —a quote by Pastor Steven Anderson from the awesome MP3 sermon, “Saved By The Word.”

“Lies don't save you!”
 —a quote by Pastor Steven Anderson from the awesome MP3 sermon, “Saved By The Word.”

“Only the Word of God can make you a man of God!”
—a quote by Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold from the awesome sermon, “The Sure Word of Prophecy.”

". . . ye have PERVERTED the words of the living God. . ."
Jeremiah 23:36

Give Me Jesus!
(video sermon by Pastor Danny Castle - You don't want to keep your eye on others, because they'll let you down. They'll hurt you.
And you don't want to keep your eyes on yourself, because you'll feel inadequate, like a loser and a failure. Keep your eyes on Jesus!)

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.

Religion is man trying to reach God through human effort, but Christianity is
God trying to reach man by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross.

Luke 11:28, “But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”

“You can sit there and say, 'Oh, well, you just took it too far. You just took King James onlyism too far!' Well, you know what brother, you can't take it far enough, when they're pushing all these false versions, and all the bookstores, and the Christian bookstores, and all of your big name preachers are all preaching false versions! You know, we need to stand our ground on this issue!!!” —a quote by Pastor Steven Anderson from the awesome MP3 sermon, “Saved By The Word.”

“Only the Word of God can make you a man of God!”
—a quote by Pastor Ralph “Yankee” Arnold from the awesome sermon, “The Sure Word of Prophecy.”

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can.
At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” ―John Wesley

"Just keep on keepin' on!" —Evangelist Lester Roloff

Redeeming The Time

Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

“Nothing in my future can ever affect the salvation that I have... Once you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are eternally secure!” —Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon titled, “How Permanent Is Your Salvation?”

“Salvation is based upon purely what Jesus Christ has done. And if you've trusted Jesus Christ here, you're saved forever! Nothing in your life, nothing in your death, angels, principalities, nothing—nothing in your future—could ever undo that relationship that has been made when you trusted Jesus Christ as Savior. And there are many people who are confused over this whole thing.” —Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon titled, “How Permanent Is Your Salvation?”

“There are many people who name the name of Jesus Christ, who are not saved, because they're trusting in living the Christian life, or in their works, or in some efforts that they're doing, in order to obtain their salvation.” —Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon titled, “How Permanent Is Your Salvation?”

Souls Are Dying!

How Permanent Is Your Salvation?
(an excellent MP3 sermon by Pastor Hank Lindstrom, 1940-2008)

Mark 1:15: “...repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

“The mark of the child of God is that he loves everybody!”
 (a quote from Pastor Jack Hyles' classic MP3 sermon, “FORGIVENESS”)

Mark 11:22, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”

Ye Must Be Born Again! | You Need HIS Righteousness!