Spectator Christianity Kathryn Kuhlman Get Out of your Seat and Get in the Game!

And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem. And Jesus went before them. And they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests. and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock him, shall scourge him, shall spit upon him, shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, master we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire and he said unto them what would ye that i should do for you and they said unto him grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy glory but jesus said unto them ye know not what ye ask can ye drink of the cup that i drink of and be baptized with the baptism that i am baptized with And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink the cup that I drink out, but with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give. but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. Thus reads a portion of the Word of God from the 10th chapter of Mark. The very air was filled with expectancy on the road to Jerusalem that day. Oh, I have relived it over and over again. There they were, the disciples walking with the master. And he had taken them in his confidence. He was trying to tell them the things that were about to happen. They had little understanding. All their understanding was so limited. He was trying to tell them of his death. His treatment at the hands of the chief priests and scribes. He was trying to warn them that soon he would be killed. But he also was telling them that he would rise again. One would have thought that somewhere among them, there would have been an understanding heart. A sympathetic feeling. But again, this shows you how absolutely human human beings really are. Selfish. Absolutely, completely selfish. In the light of everything that Jesus was telling them that would happen to him, James and John dared to ask him a favor. Master, we want the best seats when you come into your cave. Grant to us a favor. That one of us might sit on your right hand, the other on the left. And in that moment, the master... His heart, methinks, pricked with the lack of understanding, just when he needed the most. For remember, he was as much man as though he were not God. He had feelings. Remember that. The lack of understanding, methinks, hurt him deeply. But in that moment, he said something that was so profound. No. No. I cannot grant your requests. I cannot give you seats. But I offer you a cup. No. I cannot offer you. I cannot. grant you seats. But I offer you a cross. And it's just like that. And the most remarkable story ever recorded in history tells of a little group of men, fishermen, a tax collector. Ordinary men who accepted the greatest challenge ever made to human beings. And in accepting that challenge, literally changed the course of history. No seats, but a cup. The other day I read something that caused me to pause. It was almost startling. The truth of it was startling. We have too many comfortable saints on a pleasant outing instead of crusading soldiers on a fighting expedition. I repeat it. We have too many comfortable saints on a pleasant outing instead of crusading soldiers on a fighting expedition. I shall never forget. It was Dr. Bauer who told this story before the Rotary Club in Rochester, New York. He said that Bob Fitzsimmons, once the world's heavyweight champion, came into a study. and exclaimed, Dr. Bauer, how can I get as strong inside as I am outside? And Dr. Bauer turned to Bob Fitzsimmons and said, Bob, how did you get strong outside? And immediately he answered, exercise. He said, all right, that's your answer. Spectators are never healthy, victorious Christians, never. And that's exactly what's wrong with the world today. That's exactly what's wrong with the church today. That's what's wrong with men and women who profess Christianity, salvation. The day has come and the hour has struck when we need to go back to the word of God and see what it really means to be a Christian. Do you want to know the tenderness of a man of sorrows? do you really want to know there isn't a day of my life but what there are those who come to me and will weep and say oh miss cooman why has this thing happened to me bitter tears a lack of understanding miss cooman i cannot bear this sorrow any longer Almost reproving God for having allowed, for having permitted. Self -pity. Why? Oh, sure, it's all right for other folk to have their sorrows. But why has God permitted this sorrow to come to me? May I pause just a moment and say something to that someone who is going through a garden of Gethsemane. Lo, the tears have moistened the pillow at night when the lights are out. But I want you to know the darkness of that night can be your most victorious hour. You can only know how tender Is the man of sorrows. As you go through. The darkness of a night. The deepness of the waters. Or in that hour of your Gethsemane. Oh sure. There may be those. who never understood the tenderness of Joe Kuman. Never. They only know Joe Kuman as a man, political. Some knew him, a man with strong character, a man dependable. Everyone in Concordia, Missouri knew Joe Kuhlman. Each had a different idea of him, perhaps. But you see, I knew a different Joe Kuhlman than anyone else. I knew his tenderness. I... Teal can feel those terrific earaches I used to have as a little girl. The suffering with earache, it has almost plagued me, the memory of it, all of my life. But there was something about putting my head on top of shoulder, because he sat in that rock. and would hold me tenderly in his arms. There was something about laying my head on that shoulder. There was a tenderness in even touching Papa's shoulder. There was a relief. There was something there that I could not forget. describe, but I would never have known the tenderness of my papa. I would never have known the tenderness of my papa's great heart if I had not known suffering. Do you want to know the reality of the promises of your Heavenly Father? Really? Oh, sure. You read the Word of God. Oh, sure you believe the Bible. But you'll never really know the reality of the promises of God's word until you actually come to a Red Sea in your life. And there's no way forward and no way backward. And you've got to accept those promises that face value. You've got to do it. You'll never know the reality of God's promises as a spectator. Never. But, beloved, when you come to the place in your life where you have got to depend on God's word, there's a material need in that life of yours. It's got to be met. There has got to be a miracle. And in that moment, you take your eyes off of circumstances and you fix your eyes on the one who has given that promise. You're standing right there at your Red Sea. And in that moment, God comes through. And he... give you deliverance and he meets that need according to his riches in glory by christ jesus there are thousands of professing christians who will live and die and will never know the tenderness of the son the living god because they have never gone through a gethsemane there are Thousands of professing Christians who will live and die never knowing the full reality of his wonderful promises because they have never come to a Red Sea. Do you want to know the thrill of the feeling of the healing virtue of the Son of the Living God flowing through your body? But some have never dared to believe. Oh, sure, my friend. You've listened to testimonies of those who've been healed by the power of God. And you've said it's wonderful, it's glorious for them. But for me, I cannot believe. It's one of the greatest experiences that I know anything about. And those who have been healed by the power of God will tell you they could never be the same person again after they have felt healing virtue. after they have felt the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through their body, greater than the healing of the physical, has been the spiritual experience that has come along with the healing of that body. But there are thousands of God's precious children who will never know the thrill of that experience because they have never dare to believe him for the healing of the body do you know the glory of being filled with the holy spirit it's there it's a part of his inheritance for you the gift to his church the gift to you as his child there remains thousands who are only spectators to this wonderful gift that could be theirs. Yes, my friend, we have too many comfortable seats on a pleasant outing. Instead of Crusading soldiers on a fighting expedition. You'll never know the fullness of your inheritance in Christ Jesus from a sitting position. Never. No, the master says. I cannot grant. You seats. But I offer you a cup. And I offer you a cross.