3-28-2023 Devotion: Conformed

 1 Thessalonians 3: 13 reads: "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." “He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness”—the desired end of their love for one another is that they would develop a character and lifestyle of holiness. IThere is an old statement I heard decades ago: If you were tried in court for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? We are going to appear before Him someday, and He is going to judge our works. This may terrify you, but He also is going to judge our character as believers and determine the reward we will receive. My Christian friend, what kind of a life are you living today? Therefore, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus” refers to the fact that believers are going to be present with the Lord Jesus at the very moment that we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. He will take us home to glory, to the place that He has prepared for us. We will come into the presence of the Lord Jesus and at that time will be presented “unblameable in holiness before God.” My friend, do you look forward to that day? If you don't I encourage you to ask yourself a serious question, "Am I saved?" If you are, you should love holiness. You should love being conformed more and more into the image of Christ. That is sanctification.

3-27-2023 Devotion: Change

 1 Thessalonians 4: 7 reads: " For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." A child of God cannot continue to practice sin. The prodigal son may get in the pigpen for a time, but he won’t live in the pigpen. He will get up and return to his father's house. There is no justification (salvation) apart from sanctification. From the moment the child of God is born again, there is an inner spiritual transformation that takes place as well as an outward change in how one lives his or her life. I am mindful of many people I have known over the years and as soon as they truly repented and placed their faith in the shed blood of Christ, they lived different lives. There is an old story of a drunkard named "joe." Every Saturday he would come into town around noon and go straight to the saloon. He would drink all day and go home drunk to his wife and children. Joe attended an evangelistic tent meeting, and he went forward to be saved. It was a small town so everyone knew Joe. The next Saturday, Joe came in town on his horse as he always did. Everyone was watching to see if Joe would stop at the saloon. He rode right past the saloon and hitched his horse to the general store. You see, "Old Joe" had changed his hitching post. That is what salvation does for you, it changes your "hitching post." Where does your hitching post stop?

Revival Series Part 6: Revival Preaching

 The Sinner's Flight from Reality L. R. Shelton, Sr. 1967

 Listen to Isaiah 1:4-6, "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." 

Every preacher you talk with today of any denomination, who has any spiritual discernment at all, will tell you there is something wrong in the pulpit and the pew, but he is not able to put his finger on it and point it out and tell you exactly what it is. Now, my friend, that's the situation we face all over the world today. That's right. There are a few who can, but they are in the vast minority, and their voices are cried down, because man is trying to figure the way out himself instead of submitting himself to the Lord. The ministry will plow on and preach and struggle and wrestle with the unknown problem, trying this method and that method, this plan and that plan, to try to remedy the thing that is wrong in the pulpit and the pew, but in the end they find that all their plans and methods have failed. Why? They are spiritually blinded. They are sincere, honest, zealous, and many of them are giving their very lives trying to remedy the situation but they cannot bring us out of the mud and mire in which we are stalled today. That's exactly where we are - we are bogged down in the mud of materialism and rationalism and infidelity and the mud of sin and religious profession. 

Now what is the trouble? You may ask me the question, "Brother Shelton, do you know?" Yes, I do know - and that's not being smart either. It's all because one day god opened my eyes to let me see my own condition, my own spiritually bankrupt, totally-depraved condition; and having seen my own condition, I know the condition of every other individual who is in the same rut. If I were a doctor brought in on a case to analyze or diagnose that patient's condition, and I told you exactly what was wrong, Would you call me smart? No, you would say, "He just knew." 

I remember an incident that happened some years ago in the western part of this state. A man lay dying, and they called in doctor after doctor, but no one could find the cause. Finally this group of doctors turned to the family and said, "We are at our road's end. We do not know the cause nor the remedy. Do you have any suggestions to make?" The wife said, "Yes, about 10 miles from here, in the country, is an old-time doctor. Will you kindly call him in?" They laughed, but said, "Well, there's nothing we can do. We may as well call him." They stood silently around the bed as an old stoop-shouldered, gray-haired doctor came in, sat down by the bedside and looked at the patient. After he examined him, they asked, "Doctor, do you know the trouble?" He said, "Yes, he has what we termed in my younger days a case of old 'swamp fever.' You doctors missed it because you didn't recognize the type of germ you found under your microscope, it looked like a cocklebur, didn't it?" They said, "Yes." Then he said, "That's the germ of the extreme type of malaria called old 'swamp fever'." The doctors had missed it! "Well, what's the remedy?" He answered, "Liquid quinine in the veins." "But doctor," they said, "that's dangerous!" "Yes, it's a life and death proposition; it will either kill or cure." They had to have that quinine brought in by plane from a distant city. He injected it in the veins of the dying man and sat up with him all night - and that man recovered. Now did they call that doctor smart? No, he just knew! 

The trouble with our religious situation today is that our preachers see and acknowledge one side of the Gospel, but reject the other. They see that Christ died for sinners; they see that salvation is by grace; they see that there is no redemption apart from shedding of blood; they see that you must believe on Christ to be saved, but the thing they don't see (and will not admit) is man's totally-depraved condition, because they have never been awakened by the Holy Spirit. They have religion without life; profession without possession, and church membership without Christ. They grope in the dark, but never find the door that leads to the light, That door is repentance, and repentance is the missing note in present-day preaching. Some of them will talk about repentance and try to give a description of repentance, which they have read out of books but they have never experienced repentance. 

The reason they have never experienced repentance is because they have never known Holy Spirit conviction. Much that is passed off as Holy Spirit conviction today is nothing more or less than a psychological, emotional moving upon an old dead corpse by high pressure evangelism that has moved him intellectually, but cannot awaken him spiritually. Only the Holy Spirit can awaken a dead sinner. "You hath he quickened (or made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). All your organization cannot take the place of Holy Spirit conviction. Organization is all right and needful - there's nothing wrong with that; there has to be a certain amount of organization in anything you do; there has to be the shell to hold the kernel. Prayer meetings, cottage prayer meetings, etc., are all right, but all your organizations, no matter how perfectly they run, no matter how many prayer meetings you have - and they ought to be - will not awaken sinners if Holy Spirit conviction is missing. All your preaching, and so on, will never awaken a sinner! 

From the study of the Bible and old Puritan writings, an individual can learn depravity, and he can talk about depravity, but it never registers with him that his will is depraved. Now, brother, I did that for three years before God ever awakened me to the fact that I was a lost sinner. That's right; such individuals don't know that their wills are depraved, and governed by their depraved hearts until they experience it under Holy Spirit conviction. Until a preacher experiences Holy Spirit conviction and is made to see that his will is totally depraved and is governed and controlled by a totally-depraved heart, he will preach and teach that man has the ability to believe and receive Christ, and that salvation hinges upon man's believing, which is equivalent to making faith salvation, making faith your god. When once a sinner has been brought under Holy Spirit conviction and is convicted of the sin of unbelief, and comes to see that his whole depraved heart is one of unbelief, that his old depraved, unbelieving heart controls his depraved will, and that he can't believe until the Holy Spirit breaks the power of sin, the power of Satan, and gives him faith to believe, it is then and only then that he can receive Christ and trust Him as his own personal Lord and Savior. Salvation is wholly of grace and is wrought within the heart by the Holy Spirit. Faith is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, the faith of God's elect, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ by which a man receives Christ. When a sinner is awakened, I send him to the Word of God because Christ is revealed to his heart through the Word. The Holy Spirit first reveals the sinner to himself through the Word. Now, you put that down and hold it. Then the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to that sinner's heart through the Word - the way out. Christ doesn't come from above or from beneath; He's lifted up out of the Word, and you are lifted up out of the Word, that is, He lifts your condition up out of the Word. You make much of the Word, sinner. 

The individual who has never been awakened will grope in the dark trying to describe salvation and tell how a sinner is saved; he will use expressions that are true, but which do not describe salvation. First, every sinner must be awakened. He must be quickened and made alive by the Holy Spirit, so that the sinner sees, feels, and knows his own depraved undone wicked heart. God shows a sinner his ruined condition only through the Word by the Holy Spirit and leads that sinner to see that Jesus Christ died for sinners, that He is the world's Redeemer. A woman said one day, "You know, I believe my husband is making good progress getting to the Lord now since he laid aside the Word, since he's laid aside his Bible. He's about read himself intoHell." You don't read your Bible intoHell! Now, you put that thing down and hold it, It's only through the study and meditation on that Word that you come to know yourself, and come to know Christ. You don't know Him any other way. 

Then as the Holy Spirit continues to open that sinner's heart, the sinner comes to see his hopeless, helpless condition and his inability to save himself; and he is brought to trust or commit himself wholly and completely in the hands of Christ apart from all other creatures. But this is not salvation. 

The sinner is brought to see that the Bible is the Word of God, and he believes it and comes to rest upon the promises of the Word as a drowning man - but that's not salvation. He begins to plead the only ground of hope, that is, the blood of Christ and the death of Christ on the cross for his salvation. Then when the Holy Spirit has brought the sinner to the end of his way - at the end of the Law is the righteousness of God - to the end of all flesh, and the sinner lies at the feet of Christ completely yielded to Christ and Him alone, helpless and hopeless, there it is the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to that sinner's heart through the Word. Let me emphasize that fact: you can't make a god of the Word if you are studying it with one view of getting to Christ. When that has been wrought in his heart by the Holy Spirit, the sinner receives Him as his Lord and Savior, his Substitute and Redeemer. Two things stand out with that sinner from then throughout eternity - first, his totally-depraved nature, heart and will; and, second, that Christ died for him and him alone. Christ becomes a living reality to that individual - his Lord and Savior. The Person and Work of Christ becomes his testimony - he becomes a living witness of the Person and Work of Christ. That sinner knows who he is by nature, what he is by nature, and the judgment he is under - and he never gets away from it! That sinner knows that Christ is the Son of God, the sinner's Substitute, and he knows that Christ is his Substitute and Redeemer. He may be yours; He may be somebody else's, but he knows He is his. That sinner knows he has been delivered from the family of Satan and translated into the kingdom of the Son of God. Brother, every sinner who ever gets saved comes that way. Now, if we would preach to that end and see men and women really born again into the kingdom of God, that would bring us out of the mudhole that we are in. That's the remedy for our present-day situation, but how few know it and understand it. No sinner ever wants to be awakened to face his bankrupt spiritual condition. You preachers in the pulpit, you don't want to face it, because it will hurt your pride, your reputation. Well, you've got to lose your reputation. You've got to come to the place where you are willing to lose your character and everything for Christ. "He that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be My disciple." The Apostle Paul said that he lost all things to win Christ. 

No sinner would ever be saved if he could help it. When the Holy Spirit awakens a sinner, he begins to run for cover trying to hide himself from reality. He will try to weave his fig-leaf apron of self-righteousness by joining the church, by being baptized, by dedicating his life, or by surrendering to preach. There are many, many covers that sinners will try to hide under when God begins to deal with them. On the other hand, he may turn on the messenger, complaining or murmuring, saying, "I can't stand this; if this is the way of salvation, I don't want it," and he's telling you the truth. Christ said, "They don't want to give up the old for the new," and He also said, "I'll not sew a new piece on the old garment." And that's the reason unsaved religionists fight me so much. They don't want to give up what they have. They don't want to give up their old depraved will; they don't want that will broken. They don't! They'll lie; they'll falsify everything in the world. They will tell every lie out of Hell on me to try to justify themselves, and turn around and say, "Well, now, you are living in sin, You're living in sin. Now, you confess; you repent and then I'll believe you." They are not my god! I don't have to repent to them; I don't have to confess my sins to that bunch of devils. No, sir! I have been fought for these forty years that I have been here. Now, brother, if you are in that condition, you are going to Hell! You'll give up the old before you can have the new. 

In many instances a sinner will completely rebel against the truth in open rebellion and will hide under his old rebellious heart, making the excuse that he cannot give up his sin because it has such a hold upon him. An individual was talking to someone over the phone the other day, and said, "Well, I just can't give up this cigarette. I have asked the Lord to take it away from me, and He won't take it away from me." No, He's not going to do it! You've got it to do; throw it away and never go back to it. If not, you'll go on to Hell. If you are in rebellion, you walked into it. You've got to walk out of it before God ever saves you. 

In another instance he'll hide under a false profession and try to convince himself that he is all right, that he is already saved and has nothing to worry about. But, remember one thing, God does not compromise with a sinner - every sinner who gets saved has to face grim reality. My friend, you are going to face your bankrupt spiritual condition - you may just as well make up your mind - if you are ever going to get saved. You are going to face it fairly and squarely, and you are going to acknowledge it to yourself; and maybe God will make you acknowledge it to the world, I don't know. 

Let's look at the sinner who is facing reality, because every sinner who ever gets saved faces reality. Now don't get away from that. You can't just run down the aisle, dedicate your life, and get by with that, thinking you are going to get to Heaven on that. God doesn't do business that way. God doesn't take in washing for the devil. You may say, "There's no hope for me; you don't understand my danger." Let me say, if the power of God did not uphold you - if the Holy Spirit did not support and fortify you - if there were no hope and expectation at the bottom of your heart, you could not stand one hour. You would drown in despair, be driven to madness and sink into the bottomless pit of Hell in a split second. 

I don't believe there is an individual listening to me who is as deep in the horrible pit as I was; and I know one thing, that if you were not in God's strong hand you would have been in Hell a long time ago. So would I - so would everyone. My friend, it's the strong hand of God that holds you, or you would have been gone a long time ago. You would have gone back to sin; you would have fled from the presence of God. Yes, you would! Is there a strong desire in your heart to know the blessings and to enter into the benefits of the death and resurrection of Christ? 

Is there a deep desire in your heart to drink at the fountain of cleansing? Then you are beginning to face reality, The more you pray, and the more you long for Christ, is your heart being opened the more to see your awful condition? One by one are you confessing the sin God is showing you? Then you are facing the reality of your own spiritual condition, your bankrupt condition and your old sin nature. 

In the first place, let's notice some characters who reaped no benefit from the death and resurrection of Christ. Let me call your attention first to the SELF-RIGHTEOUS, Christ said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance: the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Are you a sinner? Do you see yourself as a sinner? Then Christ came to call you to repentance. The self-righteous know nothing of the benefits of the death and resurrection of Christ. They have their own reward, They glory in themselves. A sinner glories in Christ. 

Then there are the WISE and PRUDENT who see no beauty in Christ, because they are wise in their own conceit, The Word of God says, "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" (Isa. 5:21). To these the mysteries of God are hid, A sinner facing reality comes to know nothing; he sees himself as nothing. He sees his need of a Substitute, and that all he will ever have or ever know is tied up in Christ, To the born-again believer everything that he knows, or ever will know, is found in Christ. To know himself is to be driven to despair unless he knows Christ. Let me tell you something, sinner - if God should open your heart right now, wherever you are, and let you see yourself as you are without hope, without Christ, it would drive you literally to despair, and you would become a raving maniac. That's what Hell is. That's what Hell will be throughout eternity - awakened sinners with no hope! Then they face reality with no hope. But deep down in your heart, as God opens it and shows you the awful spiritual, bankrupt condition you are in, there is at the bottom a hope that you will get to Christ - there is a hope that Christ died for such a sinner as you. Conviction and repentance are sweetened with the cross of Christ. 

Then there are those WHO TRUST IN and BOAST OF THE LIGHT OF NATURE. They are WORLDLY-WISE. They are always talking about what they can do, what they are, what they have done, where they have been, what they know, etc. They try to impress the world with their importance. Christ said, speaking of this type, "If ye were blind, ye should have no have sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:41), The Pharisees had never faced reality - they did not want to face reality. When you try to be true to such an individual, and try to get him to face reality, he'll get mad with you. He thinks that you don't love him, that you have it in for him. Usually he is toucheous [sic] on some one point, and when you hit that sore spot, he'll run. It's because he is unwilling to face reality and be broken at the feet of Christ that he might enter into the benefits of the Gospel. Christ said, "I am sent unto the lost sheep... The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost... If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them who are lost... blinded by the god of this world." Are you lost? Are you a lost sinner? 

There are those who are alive under the Law while sin is dead in them - sin has never been revived. They can sit and listen to Gospel preaching and never be moved. Many of them love Gospel preaching - the stronger the better, but they have never been awakened to their danger. If the Holy Spirit moves their heart the least bit, they will stay away from the preaching for awhile until all is settled. Christ came to save the condemned - those under damnation, those who realize they are condemned to die. Christ pardons only guilty sinners. Are you guilty? The sinner must know that he is guilty, acknowledge that he is guilty, take his place as a guilty sinner before he can be pardoned. Such a sinner ceases to fight back. He becomes as docile as a little lamb and he rests there with one cry, "Oh, where can I find Him? I've got to find Christ." There's a thirst; there's a hunger; there's a longing; he's like a man who is out on the desert dying of thirst, he's crying, "Water! Water! Water!" That sinner's crying, "Christ! Christ! Oh, Where is He? I've got to get to Him. I'm condemned to die. I'm a sinner; I'm lost!" There's no fighting back in him; his mouth is shut; he has become guilty before God. That sinner will be saved. Yes, he will. 

Now let's notice briefly those who benefit by the death and resurrection of Christ. First, those who are dead in trespasses and sin, but who hear His voice. "They that hear shall live" (John 5:25), "You hath he quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Yes, those who are condemned at the bar of justice, condemned by their own conscience, those who feel the curse as a transgressor of the Law, those who feel the weight and burden of their sin, those who are damned as unbelievers of the Gospel. None but such souls as these ever hunger after Christ or thirst after the righteousness of Christ, because they alone see their own unrighteousness, and feel and know their need of a covering. What covering do you have for your sin, my friend? Has the Lord God ever passed by you and said, "Live"? Have you ever felt the arrows of God striking deep into your soul? Have you ever faced the fact that you are condemned to die, and that justly? Have your unrighteousness and uncleanness ever been so manifest, or revealed to your heart, until you have cried out for the righteousness of Christ? Then has God ever passed by you and spread His skirt over you and covered your nakedness? Just let me probe your heart. If He has not covered you with His righteousness, is there a deep desire in your heart that you can't give up, you can't let go, and you don't want to let go until God spreads His skirt of righteousness over you? Is that your condition, my sinner friend? Then you are facing reality, and you are walking down the way of grace. 

Then those who are meek also enter into the benefits of the Gospel. Christ said, "He hath sent me to preach good tidings unto the meek" (Isa.61:1, Luke 4:18). The meek are the only ones who will hear the good tidings of the Gospel. Only the soul that is bowed down through grief and anguish and trouble and distress - only the soul that is so dismayed and dejected that he cannot bear a harsh word because his spirit is sunk so low through continual sorrow of heart and grief of mind - will listen to the Gospel. They want deliverance. They want the comfort, the peace, the pardon, the deliverance of the Gospel. Yes, those who are broken by the cutting convictions of God's Word - they who are broken by the cutting conscience - they who are broken by the terrors of the Law - they who are broken by the accusations of Satan - they who are broken by the reproaches of those who are at ease, will know the binding up of their broken hearts by the hand of the Lord Jesus when He pours oil and wine of the Gospel into their wounded hearts - the oil, the grace of God for healing; the wine, the joy of the Gospel. 

My friend, do you know what it means for the Lord Jesus to stoop over you and bind up that broken heart, pour in the oil of the grace of God and the wine of joy, the comfort of the Gospel, and take you in His arms and bear you on His shoulders, saying, "This is My sheep which was lost, but now is found"? Oh, that everyone were broken at His feet this hour and knew the benefits of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

3-26-2023 Devotion: Holy

 1 Peter 1: 16 reads: "since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Is our holiness to be an attribute like God’s holiness? No. Our God is absolutely perfect, and we will never, while we are in this life, reach that state. Oh, I have met several folk, including several church denominations who thought they had reached that state of perfection, but I could not find anyone who would agree with them that they had reached that exalted level. Then what does it mean to be holy as God is holy? Our God is a perfect, wonderful personality. Although you and I are mere human beings, we can be full grown; we can mature in our faith. A beautiful little baby in a crib may win a prize for being a "Gerber baby," but if he is still a little baby in a crib seventeen years later, something is wrong. He should be maturing and participating in activities suitable for his age. As Christians, we should be growing spiritually like that. What can produce this kind of growth? The Word of God. We are called to live a life of holiness. While we can't be perfect, we can reflect the Lord Jesus Christ who we serve. It should be our goal to increase in maturity every day and be more like Christ every day. That is an attainable goal.

3-25-2023 Devotion: Prayer

 John 17: 17 reads: " Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." Jesus does not pray for the temporal well-being, prosperity, health or wealth of the disciples, but for their sanctification. He desires above all that they should be holy. “Truth” is the means by which holiness is attained. Error and deception are basic to evil, and truth is basic to godliness. Sanctify means to set apart for His purposes. The believer is not of the world; he is set apart. The thought has reference to the task rather than the person; it is a commitment to the task. The believer is set apart by the Word of God. That is, the Word reveals the mind of God. As you read the Word, you are led to set yourself apart for a particular ministry. We can serve Him only as we know His Word and are obedient to it. This is how we are to live; we are to live a sanctified life. This was the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ right before He was arrested and crucified. It was important then and it is important now. It is still the prayer of our Lord.

3-23-2023 Devotion: Will

 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 reads: "This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality." So often I hear people ask, "What is the will of God for me?" Generally, I say, "for you to be sanctified." All of God’s Word contains God’s will—both affirmations and prohibitions. Specifically, God’s will includes salvation, self-sacrifice, being Spirit filled, living a life of submission, experiencing suffering, satisfaction, and living in a state of being set apart from sin to holiness. In this context, it means being set apart from sexual impurity in particular. God desires His people to live holy and be separate from the ways and thinking of the world. We live in a world that bombards us with sexual advertising, a distortion of what the true purpose and nature of sex is, and attempts to distort Biblical values at every opportunity it can. We are in a cultural war. Our response should be to focus on our sanctification. We are to live holy lives. Everyday we arise from our sleep, we should affirm our intent and desire to live holy because of what Christ has done for us. "Be holy for I am holy." That is His command. Are you ready to walk on the "highway of holiness?"

3-22-2023 Devotion: Hearing

 Ephesians 2: 8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." We will continue looking at this verse today. Notice, that salvation is not the result of anything you did. Yes, as a result of being saved, you will change your life and how you live. But that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Faith is a gift just like grace. Now faith is the instrumental cause of salvation. It is the only element that the sinner brings to the great transaction of salvation. Yet it too is the gift of God. It has been said to me, “Since faith is the gift of God and God hasn’t given it to me, then I guess I’m not to blame if I don’t believe.” The answer is this: God has made it very clear that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If you want to trust Christ, you will have to listen to the Word of God. God will give faith to all who give heed to the message of the gospel. No one who wants to be saved through the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ will ever be turned away. All who come will be saved

3-21-2023 Devotion: New Life

 Ephesians 2: 8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." “That” refers to the entire previous statement of salvation, not only the grace but the faith. Although men are required to believe for salvation, even that faith is part of the gift of God which saves and cannot be exercised by one’s own power. God’s grace is preeminent in every aspect of salvation. These are the great verses that summarize the believer’s past, present, and future. At the moment of conversion, one is saved from the penalty of sin, being saved from the power of sin, and one day will be saved from the presence of sin. We were dead in trespasses and sin, God saved us by His grace, raising us now to heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and we will someday be in heaven displaying the grace of God. None of this depends on our own works or merit, “for by grace ye have been saved.” If you have ever seen a dead person, you know that they are incapable of doing anything. However, by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit awakens the heart of the spiritually dead person and gives him life. That renewed life is born again. New life has begun.

3-20-2023 Devotion: Leaven

 Matthew 16: 6: "Jesus said to them, 'Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." When Jesus gave this warning, the disciples thought He was talking about physical bread. Our Lord reminded them of the fact that He had provided plenty of bread for the multitudes. The "leaven" He was referencing was their teachings and their hypocrisy. They were too concerned with externals such as dress and manmade ceremonies that contradicted the Word of God. The hypocrites focused on the way things appeared and not concerned enough with the matters of the heart. There is much "leaven" in the church today, including but not limited to the Word of Faith Prosperity gospel (which really isn't a gospel) More leaven is seen in the New Apostolic Reformation movement. They lay on the graves of departed saints trying to soak their anointing through the grave, use "prophecy cards" like tarot cards to give prophecies and take out of body experiences to heaven and other places. The church needs to preach the Gospel: Christ crucified, Christ buried, Christ resurrected, Christ ascended to heaven and Christ coming again. We must be true to the Gospel message and avoid the "leaven" of modern false teachers. Stay with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revival Series Part 5: My Religious Life Before God Saved Me Part 3

 My Religious Life Before God Saved Me Part 3 L. R. Shelton, Sr. 

There is a vast difference between the indwelling presence of Christ in the heart and life of a believer and the presence of a demon spirit filling only the mind of an individual. In the heart of the born again believer, as well as in his conscious mind, Christ is magnified. He is magnified as your Lord and your Saviour, God is magnified as your Father, and the Holy Spirit is constantly taking the things of Christ and revealing them to you (John 16:18-15). On the other hand, when the mind is filled with the presence of a demon spirit, that demon spirit is magnifying things, visions, experiences, dreams, and emotions, and ecstatic rapture. That demon spirit is praising "Jesus," and uses the word, "Hallelujah," or "Glory." That demon spirit magnifies certain portions of the Bible, and gives one a sense that everything is new and glorious. That demon spirit magnifies faith, and in the main gives the individual the wrong concept of the Christian life. In other words, everything is false, because it has no foundation to rest upon. The foundation of the believer's faith is the Word of God, and the Object of his faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. The individual whose mind is filled with the presence of Satan, or the presence of a demon spirit has a faith that rests upon emotions, feelings, joy, signs, and experiences. 

My experience of the "baptism with the Holy Ghost" resulted in my mind being filled with the presence of a demon spirit, and as a result, I wanted to preach wherever I found a group of men and women. There was that desire and longing in my heart that they should experience what I had. There was a different power in my life, and I knew it. I believed that our church membership was saved, that they were Christians, but I thought they needed that same power in their lives, and I was constantly talking to them about it, asking them the question, "Have you been baptized with the Holy Ghost? Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? What about the gifts of the Holy Ghost? Do you have them? If not, why not?" That is what the individual thinks of; that is the course of his thoughts when he has experienced what is called, "the baptism of the Holy Ghost." However, the born again believer is brought down the way of grace and is made to see that he is a lost sinner, deserving hell, and he is made a new creature in Christ Jesus. Christ becomes his Lord and his Saviour. He moves and thinks in a different realm. His thoughts center around Christ. He magnifies Christ. He exalts Christ. He glorifies Christ as his Lord and Saviour. 

 After a few months went by, I found that these experiences could not be repeated. Then the socalled "speaking in unknown tongues" left me. I found that I was still just as empty as I had been before I ever experienced what I called "the baptism with fire" and "the baptism with the Holy Spirit." I can look back now and see how the Lord God of Heaven had His hand upon me, and how He took away those experiences and the speaking in "unknown tongues," because the fear of the Lord immediately gripped my heart. Days and nights passed, and that fear grew. Soon I realized that it was the same fear that had entered my heart the day I rose from that card table, shoved back those cards, and walked away from them never to touch them again. It was that same fear that I had experienced back there in early boyhood when I walked out of that room, never again to deal with those demon spirits that I called "spooks." It was that same fear that had entered my heart at the age of twelve, which separated me from all kinds of intoxicating drinks. After carefully weighing the matter before me, and the fear that gripped my heart, I realized somewhat the danger I was in, and I walked out of it – or thought I did. One of the saving features about my whole religious life at that time was the fact that I had not changed (and I never did!) my doctrinal position of God's Word. As I weighed up these experiences against God's Word, they did not tally. I knew something was wrong somewhere, but I did not know what it was. The sad fact of it all was that I had become utterly demon-possessed, and of and by my own power I could not cast out the demons, and basically my whole life was controlled by visions, voices, and so-called experiences. 

The next five years I continued preaching and teaching with that deep emptiness in my life until God, in His infinite mercy and grace, began to open my heart and mind to let me see that I was demon possessed, and that I had never been saved. In connection with this message, I wish you would read my book, "How and When God Saved a Baptist Preacher." 

I faced the fall of 1938 with the same three questions that I had faced for years, "Why was not Christ real to my heart? Why weren't the promises of God's Word real to me? and why couldn't I lay hold of them? Third, why were those who made professions of faith under my ministry not living victorious lives and experiencing deliverance from the power of sin?" Many of them came out on professions of faith with glorious experiences, but after the experience died away, I saw there was no change of heart and mind. They would battle for a little while over sin, but then they would do one of two things – stay with the church and live under a veneer of religion the same old life they had lived before they came into the church, or else they would go back to the world. Observing that there was no power over sin in the lives of the so-called saved church members, I was faced with the question of whether the Bible was really the Word of God. This being the case, I could not preach that which I did not believe with all my heart, and, therefore, what was the use of preaching? In the midst of this situation, another factor entered the picture that disturbed me: several of the members of my church, among whom were the most spiritual, began to come to me saying, "Pastor, I have missed Christ; I do not know Him. I am a lost sinner." I did not know what to do with them. For me to admit that they were lost meant that I would have to admit that I was a lost sinner. Therefore, the only way that I could deal with them was to try to persuade them that they needed a new life of dedication, and I pled with them to dedicate their lives anew unto Christ. I began to preach on dedication and assurance, but I soon found that this didn't help the matter. They came back again and again saying, "Pastor, I have a fear in my heart that I don't know Christ, and dedicating my life to the Lord hasn't helped me one bit." Then I began to wake up to the fact that the members of my church didn't know Christ. He was not a living reality to them. This put me in an embarrassing position, yet not once did it ever occur to me that I was a lost sinner. 

Some years previous to these stirring and heart-searching experiences, I had visited with Dr. A. Reilly Copeland, pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Waco, Texas, and he had told me over and again how the Lord had visited his people and how many of his church members had discovered they were lost and had come to know Christ. I said, "Oh, if he would but come here and preach to us, it might be the solution to our church problem." I asked the church to invite him to hold a meeting in the spring of 1939, and they did. The Lord led him to accept the invitation, and he came and preached for us for six weeks on the new birth. Practically everyone in our church membership was awakened to the fact that they had missed Christ. They couldn't sleep; they couldn't eat. It was a quiet moving of the Holy Spirit on their hearts. It became a common thing for them to ask each other, "Have you been born again?" – and they didn't leave me out! Day after day they confronted me with the question, "Pastor, have you been born again?" I always answered, "Yes, have you?" until the last week of the meeting. I was riding up St. Charles Avenue with Dr. Copeland here in the city of New Orleans, when the Holy Spirit sent the arrow of conviction to my heart and raised the question, "Have you been born again?" There was no audible voice, but the question pierced my heart like a barbed arrow as if someone had personally spoken to my very innermost being, and I looked about to see who might have spoken to me. Then it dawned upon me for the first time, "This is the voice of the Holy Spirit!" It came with such authority that I couldn't throw it off. I wanted to get away from Bro. Copeland. I didn't want to attend services, but being the pastor I had to go. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. I said nothing to anyone about it, and I was glad when the meeting closed. This was the first time that my salvation had ever been questioned, but it was questioned with such authority until I could not get away from its insistent demand for an answer. This was God crossing my will, and God crossing a sinner's will is what makes him so angry. I was glad when the meeting closed. The whole church life was transformed. The vast majority of them came out on a profession of faith, and no doubt some of them came to know Christ, but so many missed the way of grace and the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. My whole ministry underwent a complete reformation. I began preaching with unusual liberty and power the old doctrines of the Bible. There came a renewed conviction and assurance that the Bible is the Word of God, yet there was still that aching void in my heart. When I preached and gave an invitation, I wanted to accept my own invitation, and many times I would open my mouth to admit that I was lost but was now trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. However, the Holy Spirit kept me from it, because accepting an invitation and making a profession of faith is not salvation, and the Lord prevented Satan from pulling this trick on me. Another year went by, and we invited Bro. Copeland back for another meeting. During this time I was moved very little, if any; the Lord was dealing with other problems in the church, and He did not deal directly with my heart during the meeting. 

The year 1941 came, and at my suggestion the church invited Bro. Joe Granier to hold a meeting for us. Bro. Granier was one of our French missionaries who had been saved as a result of the meeting in 1939. The next move that I recall the Lord making, in dealing with me definitely, came one afternoon as I stood by the mimeograph machine. Someone had returned from Waco, Texas, and he was telling me that Bro. T. L. Daniel had been awakened to the fact that be was a lost sinner, and had come to realize that he was demon possessed. For several years Brother Daniel and I had been friends; he had been through similar experiences to those I have been relating. We had sat and talked for hours about those experiences, visions, and dreams, comparing notes. When this individual stated that Bro. Daniel had admitted that he was lost and demon possessed, the news hit me like a thunderbolt. The thought flashed through my mind immediately, "If Bro. Daniel, who has gone through similar experiences as I have, is lost and demon possessed, where does that put me?" I walked over and stood by the window, looking out; and cold, clammy sweat broke out all over my body. This was the first time that I began to realize the nature of my true spiritual condition. I said nothing, because there was nothing to say. I realized that I was demon possessed. 

Brother Joe Granier began the meeting around the first of September, 1941, and the storm center of the battleground in every one of his messages was, "If you can't go back to the time and place that you became a lost sinner, you cannot rightly say that you are saved." Bro. Granier had finished only the eighth grade in school, and he spoke broken English, as he was a native Frenchman. He put the statement in his own peculiar, broken English, "It's neder dis, it's neder dat. Christ died for sinners. Are you a sinner? Have you ever admitted in your heart before God that you are a lost sinner? Can you go back to the time and place that you admitted you were lost? If not, you are not saved." He hammered that great truth to our hearts for four weeks, and for four weeks I tried to find the time and place that I had ever admitted in my heart to God that I was a lost sinner. But I could not find it. Every night I lay awake until the early morning hours, going over and over every religious experience of my life, but I could not find the time or place that I had ever come to the knowledge of the fact, and admitted to God in my heart, that I was a lost sinner. He all but drove me crazy with that statement, "It's neder dis, it's neder dat. Christ died for sinners. Are you a sinner? Are you a lost sinner? Can you go back to the time and place that you admitted in your heart that you were lost? If not, then you are not saved." No matter what text he took, he invariably, somewhere in his message, made that statement, and drove home that truth. Then I would go over and over again all the ground that I had been in the realm of religious experiences until I would wear myself down, but I could not find one time that I had ever become a lost sinner in my own eyes before God. 

I knew that I was facing the crisis of my life. One Friday afternoon during the meeting, I walked down into the kitchen where Mrs. Shelton was and said, "Darling, if what that man is preaching is so, then your husband is lost." I left home that weekend and went to Shreveport, Louisiana, to visit my brother, as I had a preaching engagement on Sunday morning and Sunday evening in one of the churches there. As I walked the sidewalks of Shreveport, I faced one question – I was a lost sinner! Somewhere there in Shreveport I admitted in my heart before God that I was lost. This was the first time in my whole life that I had ever come to the knowledge of the fact that I was a lost sinner. That night I sat in my brother's home knowing I was lost, knowing I was on the road to hell, and while thinking on this fact, a Scripture came to my mind, "He that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life': and I will raise him up at the last day." As I quoted that Scripture to myself, being demon possessed, Satan gave me a vision of Christ lifted up on the cross right there in front of me. There He was with the crown of thorns on His head, and then came that audible voice, "There He is; believe Him, and you are saved!" Not yet knowing the difference between the Holy Spirit and a demon spirit, I cried out, "I do believe Him!" Then that voice said again, "Your sins are forgiven." My, my, what a trickster Satan is! 

Believing I was saved, I went ahead and preached the next day, which was Sunday, but I didn't make mention of it one time in my message. After the evening service I returned home. Riding on the train between Shreveport and New Orleans, the Holy Spirit brushed aside that whole vision and again made me realize that I was a lost sinner and demon possessed. When I arrived home Monday morning, I called my family together and told them that I was a lost sinner. Then I came before the church Monday night and told them of the battle I had had, but that the Holy Spirit had brought me to the place that I had admitted I was a lost sinner. So I took my place as a lost sinner in the First Baptist Church, Algiers, New Orleans, where I had been preaching for fifteen years as pastor. 

The services continued night after night, and the evangelist laid line upon line, showing the sinner's responsibility to come to Christ. In the midst of his message one night, Satan so took possession of my whole mind and body that, against my will, I was made to cry out, when he showed me another vision of Christ on the – cross, "I see Him! I see Him!" Immediately I realized it was Satan, and I slumped in my seat weeping my eyes out that I was so demon possessed. I had come to see the difference then between the Holy Spirit and the demon spirit. 

Yes, I was demon possessed. I was held captive by Satan, and there seemed to be no way out – no hope. For days and nights I walked the floor, or the sidewalks, or the countryside, crying unto the Lord, pleading nothing but the shed blood of the Son of God for deliverance. I was not seeking the Holy Spirit now; I was seeking Christ as a lost sinner. I wanted Him. The Holy Spirit had brought me to the place that there was such a hunger and thirst, and a longing for Christ, the Son of God, as my Redeemer, as my Lord and my Saviour, that if I could not have Him, give me death. Slowly, but surely, the Holy Spirit kept throwing back the veil of my heart, opening the skylight of my soul, as it were, until I saw the wickedness of my own nature. He showed me that I was a sinner not only by practice but a sinner by nature, and that I deserved to go to hell. God ought to send me to hell, and I saw it, and acknowledged it to Him. 

Under satanic conviction years before, I was made to give up things, confess sins, and make things right with individuals: that was as far as Satan had power to go. But now the Holy Spirit not only showed me my sins, but He turned the searchlight upon the law until I was made to gaze upon the designs of the law until I saw my sins and my transgressions of the law. I saw the spiritual side of the law, and it was the spiritual application of the law that revealed to me that I was a sinner BY NATURE. I was made to gaze upon my old original sin until sin became so exceeding sinful, so much so that I saw there was not one good thing within me. The fulness of the knowledge of myself was so manifested to my heart one morning as I was standing at the eastern window of my office looking out onto the little park across the street from the church building where sat three drunken derelicts. Their faces were bloated with liquor, and there they sat in their rags and filth. As I gazed upon them, there came the deep conviction of my heart by the Holy Spirit, "You are just as wicked as they are. Your old self-righteousness is more wicked than those three men on skidrow." I left the window and started down the stairs with one thought in mind – that I would go there where those three men sat and ask them to move over and make room for the fourth one on "skidrow." I saw that I was more wicked, in God's sight and in my own sight than they. The Lord stopped me, and I turned around and went back to my desk. 

Then one night, after I had rolled and tossed nearly all night long as the Lord was showing me the wickedness of my old nature and the wickedness of sin, the sinfulness of sin, impressing that great fact upon my heart, He called to mind several characters that we had dealt with in the underworld and impressed upon my heart with such clearness, such positiveness, that I was no better than they. Thus He showed me that "There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:22-23). It has been twenty-four years since God saved me, and I have never gotten away from the fact that I was a wicked, vile, hell-deserving sinner. When I judged myself guilty and deserving to go to hell, and by grace rested at His feet as a broken sinner, then it was that the Holy Spirit through the Word lifted up Christ to my heart and mind as my Lord and my Saviour. It was not a vision; it was life. It was not an experience; it was a crisis. It was the translation from death unto life. It was a miracle of God's grace, in that He made me a new creature in Christ Jesus. It was not ecstatic rapture of a demon spirit, but it was the Holy Spirit raising a dead sinner to life in Christ, delivering me from the power of Satan and sin, and translating me into the kingdom of the Son of God. Amen, and amen!

319-2023 Devotion: Cross

 Matthew 16: 24: "Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." I cannot imagine the look on the disciples faces when they heard Jesus' teaching on this subject. The cross represented a picture of a violent death and humiliation. The Lord Jesus Christ was demanding total commitment to Him, even if it meant dying a horrific death. There was no salvation without making a full surrender to Him. He had to be Lord or He was nothing. There was no middle ground to Him. There is a false teaching today that you can be saved without making Him Lord. The false teaching sounds like this: "You come to Jesus and make a decision for Him. Then in a second experience you get power, a deeper faith, a higher life, or the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The second experience makes you ready to follow Christ all the way. That theology is necessary because the bar to salvation was set too low. However, when people are really converted, they receive a new heart and they can face all the attacks from the devil, persecution from men, or the government and they will do it without fear. Why? Because they are new creations. I was in a church for 15 years that taught the Baptism with the Holy Spirit was a second experience that gave you power to have spiritual gifts and overcome sin. Hear this and understand, the enemy wants to create false teachings to keep people from being truly born again. If you have a new heart, that heart will long desire to pick up your cross and follow your Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know what I'm writing about?

3-18-2023 Devotion: Boldness

 Today, we continue our look at Acts 4: 23-24: "When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them...." After being released, the apostles acknowledged God's Sovereignty and prayed: "And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness...." They wanted boldness to do even more for the Kingdom. They were sold out for the Lord and may I say, that is how you will act if you have been awakened to your lost condition by the Holy Spirit, and you have placed your faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. While there are different degrees of maturity in believers, there is only one pathway of obedience that all who claim Yeshua (Jesus) as their Savior walk in. And, that pathway is obedience. True believers act like it. When you face personal setbacks, what is your typical response? Pity, anger, hurt are what many default to. The Apostles acknowledged God's Sovereignty and asked for boldness that they might speak His Word. Which camp are you in?

3-17-2023 Devotion: In Charge

 Acts 4: 23-24: "When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them...." To set the scene, Peter and John had been detained and ordered by the rulers and elders in Jerusalem not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. They were not intimated or deterred from their ministry to preach salvation to all who would hear. Then, they went to pray. Did they pray for ease, for protection, for money, for a better means of transportation to travel to other lands? No! Verse 29 reveals their request: "And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness...." There are two points I want you to notice. First, they acknowledged God's Sovereignty. They knew that whatever happened to them was under the direct control of the One Who made the heaven and the earth. They didn't blame others, the rulers and elders, God or the government. They knew Who was in charge. When you face problems, do you blame someone or do you acknowledge God's Sovereignty over your situation. If you do, you will be empowered to walk in obedience because you are walking with Yahweh (the LORD).

3-16-2023 Devotion: Carnal

 1 Corinthians 3: 1: "But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh." Some people have the mistaken theology that there are three types of people in the world: natural (unsaved), carnal (saved but live like they aren't) and the spiritual (saved). They may use this verse to create the category of a carnal. There was a theologian who created the category of "carnal Christian" in 1918 in his writings. He taught that a person could be saved but live like he wasn't and still maintain his salvation. That is unbiblical to the core. If someone has been awakened to their sinful condition through Holy Spirit conviction and been brought to the foot of the cross and in repentance sought to be saved through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that person has had a transformation into a new way of living. When Christ saves you, you are like a child. There is much to learn, and you will progressively walk on the "highway of holiness." Where you are today is not where you will be in five years. In the verse today, Paul was saying that the Corinthians had not been progressively growing in holiness as they should, so he could not speak to them as mature but as immature. Let it be our desire every day to progressively be conformed to the image of Christ and grow in sanctification and holiness. Every day I pray for my family to "grow in holiness, righteousness and sanctification." I desire the same for you.

3-15-2023 Devotion: Don't Understand

 Romans 7: 15: "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Have you ever felt like Paul did? When he says he didn't "understand," he was not referencing the facts of what he had done, but rather the word was sometimes used to express approving or accepting. This means Paul found himself doing things he did not approve of. The verbs are first person present tense. This means that Paul is talking about things occurring in actual time. He was not speaking of a time before he was converted. He is talking about at the time of his writing the book of Romans. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that, like Paul, we do things we don't approve of. There is a reason when the Lord Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples to pray, it included the words, "forgive us our debts." He was not talking about a financial balance sheet. He was talking about daily seeking forgiveness and repentance from all wrongdoing. This verse encourages me to be very honest with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know I fall short of His Divine Perfection every day. I'm thankful Paul was inspired to write today's passage. It encourages me to live a life of daily repentance and seeking forgiveness. I think Paul did as well and that gives me hope to keep pressing closer to our Lord.

3-14-2023 Devotion: Chosen

 John 6: 65: "And He (Jesus) said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of My Father." The same work of overcoming man's hostility and drawing him to Christ is ascribed to the Father and to the Holy Spirit (v. 63), for the works of the Holy Trinity are undivided. Although men and women are commanded to believe and will be held accountable for unbelief in Christ, genuine faith is never exclusively a matter of human decision. Once again, in the face of unbelief, Jesus reiterated God’s sovereignty involved in selection for salvation. While this could make people uncomfortable if they think they were the determining factor in their salvation, it is what the Lord Jesus Christ taught. While it may strike your pride for you to think that you chose Christ, remember He says, "I choose you." (John 15: 16) A famous Bible teacher once said, "You are obligated to teach what the Bible teaches not what you want it to teach." Be thankful you were chosen. After a while, you will be greatly humbled that you are His child.

2-13-2023 Devotion: Drag

 John 6:44 reads: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." Prepare to be made very uncomfortable. The word translated "draw" is the Greek word helko. Many like to interpret the verse with an idea of the Holy Spirit wooing someone to Christ. Like, "please come to me, I'm waiting for you. I will give you a wonderful life." The problem is that is not the meaning of the Greek word. It actually means to forcibly drag. The same verb is used in Acts 21: 30 when the people dragged (drew) Paul out of the temple. I don't think the people said, "Here, Paul. Please come here." No, they forcibly compelled him to come. The truth expressed in this verse is that the Holy Spirit will compel someone to come to Christ. This is not against the person' will but because the Holy Spirit has applied the truth of God's Word to the sinner's heart. If you have a lost family member or friend that you want to get saved, try a prayer I use: "Lord Jesus Christ, I come before you and plead for you to drag ___________ to the cross. Use force, if necessary, I pray. They won't come on their own so please, Lord, you bring them for your Glory." Note, that God’s drawing does not eliminate the responsibility of man to respond to that calling. More to follow.

Revival Series Part 4: How God Saved a Baptist Preacher Part 2

 My Religious Life Before God Saved Me Part 2 L. R. Shelton, Sr.

 I was ordained by my church and pastor in November 1917, to the work of the ministry. There are some things that I have never been able to understand about my ordination. One is the fact that the presbytery who ordained me at the request of the church did not detect that I was not born again. Also, why did they take the experience that I gave of being called to the ministry as being genuine? Did they know the difference, or did they not? I believe that we ought to be very, very careful in putting our stamp of approval on men who say they are called to preach. How I have wished ten thousand times that someone had told me upon the authority of God's Word that I was deceived, that I was living and working under a delusion and under the influence of Satan. In this condition, fifteen years of my ministry went by. I was zealous in mission work. I preached to large crowds - never wanted a crowd to preach to. 

 Then in the spring of 1932, I came face to face with three great facts - first, there was still an emptiness in my heart and life that I could not account for. I tried to make the promises of God real to my heart. I tried to practice the presence of Christ, but I could not. I spent hours meditating upon a portion of Scripture. I read all the commentaries that I had on the reality of Christ, trying to make the Word real to my heart and mind, but to no avail. The second fact I faced was, that Christ was real to the early disciples, according to the record of the first chapters of Acts, more real after the Day of Pentecost than He was while on earth tabernacled in His earthly body. I read these first chapters of Acts over and over, asking myself this question, "Why isn't Christ that real to me?" but I could find no answer. I asked individuals, including preachers, if they could explain the difference to me; and the only answer I received was this: "These were Bible characters, and we are not living in Bible times." Then the question would come back to me, "Doesn't the Bible say that these are examples for us to follow? If not, why was the Bible written?" Finally, an old preacher told me, "Brother Shelton, just remember that you have all that you will ever get," and that didn't satisfy me. 

During those years I gave myself to prayer, to the reading of the Word, and to personal soul winning, with one thought in mind, that there might come that personal union with Christ. I lingered in the closet of prayer, meditating on the Word, trying to fill that deep hunger in my soul, but Christ always seemed to be just beyond reach. I knew that He was the world's Redeemer, but there was a great gulf between Christ and my hungry soul. I struggled to find the answer in my mission work, as I gave myself sacrificially, laboring from sixteen to eighteen hours a day. I tried to lose my life in the ministry, that I might find the reality of Christ, which I was sure those early disciples experienced. I traveled far and near, meeting with different religious groups, trying to find the answer, but always I would return home disappointed, and with a hungry heart. 

 Then there was a third fact I faced. I was having hundreds and thousands of converts, or professions of faith, but as I watched their lives I saw there was no victory over sin as was manifested in the lives of those early disciples. The vast majority of these converts lived the same life, under religious covering, as they had always lived. To me, my whole ministry was a sham and a camouflage because of that emptiness in my life. 

So, grappling with these personal and ministerial problems, I set out, uninfluenced by anyone else, to find the answer to these three questions. The first thing I did was to read the biographies of outstanding men of God, such as Spurgeon, Whitefield, Moody, Brainerd, and others. As I read and studied their lives, I saw that Christ was a living reality to them, and these men were not Bible characters. So that cleared up the first problem and answered that statement that the average individual made to me that these are Bible characters, and since we are not living in Bible times, we can't expect Christ to be that real to us. Therefore, I began to give myself to the study of that great truth of UNION WITH CHRIST, and out of it grew some fourteen Bible studies on the general theme, "The Believer's Union With Christ." These studies in the Word of God created a greater hunger in my heart for the reality of Christ, for I had come to see that in some mysterious way the believer and Christ are united in salvation. I learned that doctrine intellectually; and I sat meditating before it, trying to lay hold upon it experimentally, yet there was still that aching void in my life. I do not know how much truth a person can learn intellectually, and yet not be saved, but I do know that an individual can talk about the great doctrines of the Word intellectually and yet have missed the new birth. 

The second thing I saw in my study of the Word of God, as I searched for the reality of Christ, was that the Holy Spirit was the power in the lives of those early Christians, in their preaching, in their living. Then I came to the definite conclusion that the reality of Christ in a believers s life is for us today, just as it was in the primitive church, as recorded in the first chapters of Acts, and that it was the result of the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is as far as I came in my study along that line. Not one time did it ever cross my mind that the answer to the problem I faced was the new birth. The reason for this was that there was no Holy Spirit conviction. I was following only the natural light of reason that I had, and no sinner can ever be awakened to His guilty, lost condition before God apart from Holy Spirit conviction. 

About this time there fell into my hands some writings on the Holy Spirit, such as, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit; and other treatises on the Holy Spirit. I read and studied them, and as a result I began to pray for what is commonly known as "the baptism with the Holy Ghost." My seeking for the Holy Spirit came about like this: One Saturday night, as I was sitting on the side of my bed, I heard a voice saying, "Shelton, you've failed, haven't you?" Believing it was the Lord who spoke to me, I said, "Yes, I have miserably failed." Then came these words to me, "If you will give me your life as it is, fully surrendered, I'll give you back the task of evangelizing this great mission field," referring to Southeast Louisiana. Still believing it was the Lord who spoke, I said, "Yes, I'll close out the bargain with you right now." So I fell on my knees by the bedside and surrendered all to Him the best I knew how, and began to cry for mercy. It had been several years since I had heard that voice in an audible manner. As I relive this experience, I tremble, knowing now that it was Satan I was dealing with, but I praise the Lord that He delivered me out of it. The next morning I went to church and preached on prayer, calling the church to prayer, after making a confession of my failure. Several left the building that morning saying, "That is what we need." A people cannot rise any higher than their pastor. 

The next week I cancelled all my engagements and gave myself to prayer and fasting. I promised the Lord I would follow Him, no matter what it would cost, still believing that the Lord was leading. Thinking I was saved, I gave myself to prayer and fasting, and there came a deep conviction in my life, which I now realize is satanic conviction. I began to see all my failures: I thought I had been living a very good life until satanic conviction began to point out things in my life which were not right. Not realizing it was the conviction by a demon spirit, but believing it was the Holy Spirit leading me, I cried unto "Jesus" to have mercy on me. Everything he pointed out in my life that was wrong had to be set right before he would lead on. Many were the telephone calls, making things right with individuals; many were the visits to individuals straightening up things with them. Now, I know that this was satanic conviction. Now, the question may arise, "How do you know this was satanic conviction?" First, I was convicted ONLY of THINGS that were wrong in my life, according to my conscience, and according to the background of my teaching. Second, I know it was satanic conviction because I was not being led to Christ, but led to seek for what I thought then was the Holy Spirit. The third reason that I know it was satanic conviction is because I was not convicted at any time of my original sin or of my old sin nature. Satan, or his demon spirits, will not lead an individual to Christ; they cannot, because they cannot open a person's heart and let him see that he is a sinner by nature. 

Day by day the hunger and thirst in my heart for God grew deeper, until it drove me on my face without food or sleep crying, "Oh God, I want You" By Friday morning I had such a hunger in my life for God that I could not be still. I could not be still! I could not eat; I could not sleep, and I didn't want to see anyone. I wanted God. I had never felt so unworthy as then, and nothing could satisfy that emptiness in my life. The hunger and thirst and longing in my soul for God was such that I was ready to give up everything – and I did, as the Scripture says, "I counted all things as dung to win Him." This was the cry of an unsaved soul. I was seeking the Holy Spirit, and not Christ. When you hear an individual constantly saying, "Oh God! I want God. I want to work for God," remember that is the cry of an unsaved soul! When a person is born into the kingdom of God, and Christ becomes his Lord and Saviour, then God becomes his Father and the indwelling Holy Spirit leads him to say, "My Father!" But to the unsaved heart, whether he is a preacher in the pulpit, or a deacon in the pew, or a drunkard in the gutter. He is only God. 

When Friday night came, the hunger was so intense that I was coming to the point of despair. I asked myself, "Will God never break through the heavens and reveal Himself to me once again?" At 11:40 p.m., as I sat in our dining room, there was poured out upon me a spirit in a flame of fire. It began at my head and slowly covered my entire body from head to foot, lasting about twenty minutes. I had suffered with certain ailments, and my body was healed completely. It seemed to me that I could not have suffered more if someone had cast me into a furnace of literal fire. Someone standing by my side said my flesh was as cold as ice, but to me it was a burning furnace. During those twenty minutes I felt that God had absolutely forsaken me, and I recall crying unto Him not to leave me but to crucify my old flesh life. 

After the first burst of light in this outpouring of the spirit of fire, everything grew dark and I began to scream. I suffered. I was met in a spirit of fire. When the fire had burned away, there appeared to me a vision of a world floating before my eyes, behind which loomed up a and above that cross flashed these words, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." I took this as the sign that God had recommissioned me to preach His Word, which I thought He had done originally when I was sixteen years of age back in the old county church at Sardis, Louisiana, when I thought He became so real to me. As I look back now upon that experience and that vision, I realize that it was Satan transforming himself into an angel of light, and working in the realm of my mind to give me that vision. It was the demon spirit taking possession of my mind and body. This experience reveals to me what power Satan has through his demon spirits. As I relate these experiences that happened to me before God saved me, I tremble; and I am doing it only because my Lord is leading me that I may warn some other poor preacher out yonder who is living in such a realm of religious experience, or some demonpossessed individual who believes he is saved, but who is caught in Satan's trap. My friend, I am recording here what actually happened to this poor, benighted sinner before God saved me. Do you wonder now why I never cease to praise the Lord for His marvelous grace and love in opening my heart and writing His law upon my heart, bringing me to Christ for salvation and delivering me out of Satan's trap, and making me a child of His? 

Sometime after midnight I drank a glass of milk, the first food I had taken for hours, and went to bed and slept the sleep of a little child. Next morning I awoke in the ecstasy of this experience, and for days I did not know whether I was on earth or elsewhere. I did not care to sleep. When I slept, it was the sweetest sleep I had ever experienced. The presence of what I thought was God was so real, and I was so taken up with it that it did not matter what people said about me. My honor, my reputation, my character, my ministry, the results of my labor, my salary, my work, what I did, how people treated me – all rested in the hands of, I thought, Christ. Do you see, my friend, what an imitation I had, and how closely the false experience imitates the real? Do you see that the expressions I use now to describe a sinner coming to Christ are almost identical with the language I have used to describe what happened to me (and I am giving you my experience in the words of the article I wrote in 1933 about it)? The wonder of wonders to me is that God through the power of the Holy Spirit ever took the Word of God and opened my blind eyes to let me see that I was a lost sinner, and broke me at His feet, and redeemed me from the power and kingdom of Satan. 

Let me call your attention to another aspect of these religious impressions Satan gave me. When I awoke the next morning, I seemed to be in a new world. Everything seemed to be new. I had a new Bible. The whole world was new, and everything took on a different hue: the sun was brighter, the grass greener. The people seemed to be different. The whole world seemed to be filled with that presence. My friend, this is the work of Satan as an angel of light. To the born again believer, Christ becomes the Center of his life. To the born again believer, God becomes his Father, and he sees that all his sins were laid on Christ. Under the presence of Satan, the individual is taken up with self, taken up with his feelings, his emotions, his ecstatic joy and his peace, even though it is all false. To him, it is real. I know, because to me it was all just as real as could be. Now, let me make this statement: as long as I lived in the realm of that presence, I bad no worry, no anxiety, no fretting – nothing but contentment; but when that presence faded away, I found there had come no change in my heart and life. It did not remove hatred and rebellion or jealousy out of my heart. 

As I said, when this experience died away, I found the old heart was still the same. There is one thing I discovered in my own experience - and I find it to be true in the hearts and lives of multitudes. It is this: as long as you can pray up that experience, as long as you can surrender your mind to that presence, if the Holy Spirit lets you alone, you can live on that false peace, false security, false joy, and false contentment. What grace when the Holy Spirit doesn't leave a sinner in Satan's snare! 

All these experiences that I had were satanic, and they came as the result of a deliberate search for God with my whole soul, but being alienated from God by sin, being blinded by the god of this world, my understanding darkened, my heart darkened, I could not find God. I could only get a demon spirit. Oh, the tragedy of a poor soul seeking the Holy Spirit! A saved person will not seek the Holy Spirit, because he knows the Holy Spirit dwells within him. One who is born again, made a new creature in Christ, cannot and will not seek the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit will not let him seek Him as He is already at home in the believer's heart. Let me say this (and say it frankly), that no man by searching and seeking the Holy Spirit will find Him, because you do not receive the Holy Spirit by seeking Him. You receive Him by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "I will send Him unto you, and He shall be in you." When you seek the Holy Spirit instead of seeking Christ, you will get only a demon spirit, which is sent to you by Satan, your god. Christ Jesus came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost (Like 19:10), and Christ must find His sheep, open their blinded eyes, and their darkened understanding, and their darkened heart, and deliver them from the power of darkness, the kingdom of Satan, and translate them into the kingdom of the Son of God, before they will ever start searching for Christ Only a sinner who is born again will seek Christ, but he doesn't know what has taken place, and the only thing he does know is that he wants Christ. To seek the Holy Spirit, you have to by-pass Christ, and God the Father honors His Son by speaking to us now only through Him, according to Heb.1:2. 

Let's turn to Matt.3:11 and read, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Having experienced what I thought was the last part of that text, "baptized with fire," I did not rest until I experienced the other part, "baptized with the Holy Ghost." Again, there came to my heart such a burden of prayer, and again He led me to surrender everything. I found myself ready to give up my position as a Baptist, along with everything else, if only I could receive what I thought was "the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I was led to lay my life, my home, my family, my ministry, my church, my denomination, and every doctrine I had ever believed on the altar, as it were, and to become nothing, if only I could receive the "baptism of the Holy Ghost." "I lost my life to find it again." That was my position at midnight of January 8, 1933. For a while I sat at the table, then I stood with my elbow resting on the mantel. Having made the final, unconditional surrender, I waited. Then the demon spirit, under the guise of the Holy Spirit, filled me. Everything in the room was quiet; there was no great emotion. After the demon spirit took complete charge of my body, I broke forth speaking in what they call "the unknown tongue." I thought this was the answer to my prayer, so I began to pray for power to carry on this great mission work. 

For days, whenever I opened my mouth to pray, I spoke in what they called "the unknown tongue." I was constantly praising "Jesus." For days I lived in the ecstasy of that presence. It was real, and as I said, as long as I lived in the consciousness of that presence, I experienced no worry, no anxiety. I didn't realize that it was the presence of Satan imitating the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I said to myself, "Now I know what those early disciples experienced," because I thought and believed that this presence was the reality of Christ. But now, as I look back upon that experience, I see that the Lord Jesus Christ was not magnified; it was not He that filled the horizon of my heart and life. It was only the presence of a demon spirit that filled my mind.

3-12-2023 Devotion: Renewing

 Romans 12: 2 reads: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." You can know God’s will by honoring and obeying him, and by refusing to be influenced by societal pressures or shifting cultural norms. Just because everyone says something is morally permissible, does not make it so. The Word of God molds our beliefs, not the world. This is one reason why your mind must be renewed daily. Every day the world tries to influence how you think. You need to exchange the world's opinions for God's will. As we replace our old way of thinking and adopt an entirely new perspective—in line with God’s point of view, i.e. His Word, you will begin to recognize God’s will more and more. You will find it easier to hear his voice in a variety of situations. God may not dictate the details of our lives (such as what specific clothes to wear), but he will give us spiritual principles for everyday decisions. Knowing God’s will results from doing his will as revealed in Scripture.

3-11-2023 Devotion: Sacrifice

 Romans 12: 1 reads: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." As you walk thuis life, you will encounter pain. Being a Christian will not stop you from the trials of life, e.g., loss of a loved one or financial setbacks, as the rain falls on the just and unjust. Spiritually, we lose temporal pleasures when we abandon sinful activities. We may have to struggle to establish new patterns of living. But becoming a living sacrifice (that is, giving our lives totally to God) does not mean endless martyrdom. We can find fulfillment and satisfaction in becoming what God created us to be, no matter what the cost. We will see a higher purpose in life than simply avoiding pain. This is an act that should be performed daily. Make it a daily practice to present yourself as a "living sacrifice" to your Lord Jesus Christ.

3-10-2023 Devotion: Truth

 Romans 8: 17: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." True faith will not come unless the truth of the Gospel is presented. Paul’s main point in this series of rhetorical questions is that a clear presentation of the gospel message will precede genuine saving faith. True faith always has content and truth—the revealed Word of God. Salvation comes to those who hear and believe the facts of the gospel. The other day I read a Facebook comment following a post by a Christian minister regarding preaching to the LGBTQ community. The comment was a question: how did the minister expect the people to hear his message if it was so direct? His response was that he would tell the truth of God's Word and the rest was in God's hands. His point was simple: he didn't save people, only Christ saved people. We must not water down the Gospel. The truth will produce faith when it is heard by God's elect. By elect, I refer to those who are predestined to come to Christ. While there are different views on what elect means, the point is that the truth of God's Word will produce faith in those who are willing to hear. Never compromise and be willing to love people enough to tell them the truth. Even if it makes them mad!

3-9-2023 Devotion: Led

 Romans 8: 13: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Have you ever said or heard someone say, "I feel God is leading me to do ...." It could be a new job, a new relationship, or any other life decision that you have to make. The verse quoted today is cited as support for the belief that God leads us in making ordinary routine decisions in life. The idea is that the Bible is the Word of God but it doesn't give me direct answers regarding my choice of occupations or a spouse. For those decisions, I need a hunch, impression or God's leading in some mysterious manner. I call this the "breadcrumb approach." God leads you by following the hunches, impressions, fleeces, etc., and hopefully you make the right decision. This is bad theology and not supported by Scripture. In the verse referenced today, when taken in context (read verses 10-13), it becomes clear that the leading referenced is the leading to mortify sin, not live according to the flesh, and to live a righteous life. That is the leading the Bible speaks to. Am I saying God can't lead you? No, I'm just saying there is no "breadcrumb leading" found in Scripture. When God leads, you will know it. Until then, mortify sin, and live a life in the Spirit which is a life of holiness and sanctification.

3-8-2023 Devotion: Sent

 John 17: 18-19: "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." Our Lord set Himself wholly apart for believers. He took condemnation and gave us justification. He took our agony and gave us victory. He took pain and gave us ease. He took stripes and we got healing. He received vinegar and gall, and we get honey and sweet. He took the curse, and we get the blessings. He received a crown of thorns that we might receive a crown of glory. He took death and we received eternal life. Since the Lord Jesus Christ has wholly set Himself apart for His people, how reasonable it is for believers to set themselves apart for Christ. He left the glories of heaven for us; it is most reasonable that we should dedicate our lives to following and serving Him all the days remaining in our lives. Perhaps you have tried and failed. Maybe you think you have failed too often, and God will not forgive you now. That is a lie! The Lord Jesus Christ will never turn anyone away who comes to Him. Today is a great day to commit your remaining time on earth to follow Him 100%. It is my prayer that you will.