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The Devil's Convention |
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Author: unknown |
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THOSE IN ATTENDANCE INCLUDED:
Malice, Envy, Pride, Greed, Sinful Pleasures, etc.
"Now my good imps, what have you done today to weaken the Church
of God?"
"We have been very busy today, making empty seats in church
houses," began one.
"Nothing could please me better," answered their king.
"I persuaded one man that he had a headache and kept him from a
sermon that might have changed his whole life," said one.
"I induced one good man to slip to his store and fix up his
books," said another.
"Good!" said the king. "He'll soon give up public worship
altogether."
"I was able to get one pure young man to attend dances, card
parties, and questionable movies," said one imp.
"Hallelujah!" roared Satan. "Work all you can, and stir up
sinners to visit Christian people on Sunday and make them think
they must stay at home and entertain them. And instead of a
plain simple dinner Sunday, make people think they must have
something extra, so some of the family will have to stay away
from church services and Sunday school. You can work this on the
people who think they are very devoted."
"I made several poor women who were hungry for God's Word stay
at home to repine over trials. I just said to them, 'Oh, these
well-to-do people don't care for you; you can't wear fine
clothes, so I wouldn't go where I was looked down upon,' " said
the imp labeled Pride.
"That is one of the best ways to cheat poor people out of heaven
that I know of," answered the king with approval.
"I induced a good many men and women to believe they were not
strong enough to attend church services," said one called
Indifference. Of course, all these folks will be at their
business on Monday, even if they feel worse."
"Very good," said Satan, with a sulphurous grin, "a Sunday
headache is one of the best excuses for absence from church
services."
"I am the weather imp," said one fellow. "I go around making
people believe it is going to rain, or that it is too cold, too
damp, or too hot to venture out. It is enough to make even your
gloomy majesty laugh to see these same people start out the next
day in the worst weather imaginable. One would think it a sin to
carry an umbrella and wear rain coats to meeting."
"You are doing finely, my imps," his majesty said warmly.
"Preachers may work and pray over their sermons all week, but
there will be no results in preaching to empty seats. Your plans
are excellent, but I might suggest another good point. All
preachers have human imperfections-some fault or manner of
speech. Get Christians to criticize their pastor, especially
before their children. If you can stir up a spirit of
fault-finding against the preacher, or among the members, it
will help empty seats. If the seats are empty, the minister will
preach to no purpose.
"See the result of your labor in the Churches today. Not only
did the people who stayed at home lose a blessing, but each
empty seat did its work against the Lord's kingdom. A little imp
in each empty seat surely can put the damper on a fervent
preacher. He made unusual preparation and went with his heart
aglow, but the empty seats chilled him and he did poorly.
"It isn't a smart preacher, nor a rich congregation, nor a good
location, that makes a successful church. It is the church
members always being there who draw in the unconverted. As soon
as a Christian begins to stay at home for one excuse or another,
I know I have a 'mortgage' on his soul which if he does not pay
off, I will foreclose on the judgment day.
"Now one last word," said Satan as he was closing the
convention, "get the Christians to say something unkind to the
preacher-anything true or untrue. Tell him the truth if
necessary, that hurts! But say it in an unkind manner so that
you get him discouraged. One preacher discouraged is worth a
host of laymen discouraged. If you can only work those lines
too, it will greatly augment our growing number of empty seats.
Tell him he's long-winded, that he rambled in his talk, you
know, anything-but just get him discouraged-that will take the
'fire' out of him. Once that's done it won't take the 'fire'
long to go out in the people in the pews. Then it won't be long
before we can close another church and write across its portals,
'Ichabod'-the glory of the Lord hath departed!"
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Printed By: Faith Publishing House,
P.O. Box 518, Guthrie, OK 73044 |
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