S. Quotations
Quotations by Samuel Chadwick The Spirit-Led Church and Prayer
"The Church is the Body of Christ, and the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He fills the Body, directs its movements, controls its members, inspires its wisdom, supplies it’s strength. He guides into truth, sanctifies its agents, and empowers for witnessing. The Spirit has never abdicated His authority nor relegated His power. Neither Pope nor Parliament, neither Conference nor Council is supreme in the Church of Christ. The Church that is man-managed instead of God-governed is doomed to failure. A ministry that is College-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles. The Church that multiplies committees and neglects prayer may be fussy, noisy, enterprising, but it labors in vain and spends its strength for nought. It is possible to excel in mechanics and fail in dynamic. There is a superabundance of machinery; what is wanting is power. To run an organization needs no God. Man can supply the energy, enterprise, and enthusiasm for things human. The real work of a Church depends upon the power of the Spirit. The Presence of the Spirit is vital and central to the work of the Church. Nothing else avails. Apart from Him, wisdom becomes folly, and strength weakness. The Church is called to be a "spiritual house" and a holy priesthood. Only spiritual people can be its "living stones," and only the Spirit-filled its priests.
"The Church always fails at the point of self-confidence. When the Church is run on the same lines as a circus, there may be crowds, but there is no Shekinah. That is why prayer is the test of faith and the secret of power. The Spirit of God travails in the prayer-life of the soul. Miracles are the direct work of His power, and without miracles the Church cannot live. The carnal can argue, but it is the Spirit of God that convicts. Education can civilize, but it is being born of the Spirit that saves. The energy of the flesh can run bazaars, organize amusements, and raise millions; but it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes a Temple of the Living God. The root-trouble of the present distress is that the Church has more faith in the world and in the flesh than in the Holy Ghost, and things will get no better till we get back to His realized presence and power. The breath of the four winds would turn death into life and dry bones into mighty armies, but it only comes by PRAYER!"
Samuel Chadwick on Preaching
“I would rather preach than do anything else I know in this world. I have never missed a chance to preach. I would rather preach than eat my dinner, or have a holiday or anything else the world can offer. I would rather pay to preach than be paid not to preach. It has its price in agony of sweat and tears and no calling has such joys and heartbreaks, but it is a calling an archangel might covet; and I thank God that of His grace He called me into this ministry. Is there any joy lke that of saving a soul from death? Any thrill like that of opening blind eyes? Any reward like the love of little children to the second and third generation? Any treasures like the grateful love of hearts healed and comforted? I tell you it is a glorious privilege to share the travail and the wine of God." On the Power of God
“To men with God all things are possible. Man plus God is, to all practical purposes of the Divine will and requirements of the Divine life omnipotent as God Himself. This means that with God all that a man ought to be, he can be, and all that a man ought to do, he can do. That is the gospel that I bring to you.” On Conversion
"Christianity is this: Christ in you; and Christ comes and dwells in you in the person of His Spirit. It was a great thing for God to be incarnate in Jesus Christ, but the incarnation of God in the believer is not one whit less wonderful. Every conversion is an incarnation, every believer is a miracle of God. You may be able to do a great many things, but you cannot make temples, and you cannot make conversions: you cannot make Christians. A man becomes a Christian by God coming to live in him." On Biographies that made a difference in his life
"No missionary biography ever made the impression on me that the “Life of James Gilmour of Mongolia” made. His constant and prayerful study was to do as Christ would have done in his place, and this was the question he constantly asked: How would the Lord Jesus act or speak in these circumstances? And the greatest spirit I ever knew was James Chalmers, who left everywhere he went the savor of his Master’s presence, and made those whom he met feel that they had had a visit from the Lord." On God’s Power
“Fire is mightier than learning. A soul ablaze is a better guide to effective speech than much scholarship. It is fire that conquers the heart, and this fire still falls from heaven.” On Samuel Chadwick’s Successful Writing Ministry
"It is not often that an evangelist is successful in print. Samuel Chadwick of Leeds is a great and successful evangelist; he has published a volume of sermons which is great and successful also. How does he do it? He uses short sentences. He quotes John Wesley in preference even to John Bunyan. His doctrine is perfectly clean-cut and settled. And yet these are but the externals. He does it because he has unbounded faith in Christ, and unbounded pity for man."—From a review of Humanity and God. The Spirit-Led Church and Prayer
"The Church is the Body of Christ, and the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He fills the Body, directs its movements, controls its members, inspires its wisdom, supplies it’s strength. He guides into truth, sanctifies its agents, and empowers for witnessing. The Spirit has never abdicated His authority nor relegated His power. Neither Pope nor Parliament, neither Conference nor Council is supreme in the Church of Christ. The Church that is man-managed instead of God-governed is doomed to failure. A ministry that is College-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles. The Church that multiplies committees and neglects prayer may be fussy, noisy, enterprising, but it labors in vain and spends its strength for nought. It is possible to excel in mechanics and fail in dynamic. There is a superabundance of machinery; what is wanting is power. To run an organization needs no God. Man can supply the energy, enterprise, and enthusiasm for things human. The real work of a Church depends upon the power of the Spirit. The Presence of the Spirit is vital and central to the work of the Church. Nothing else avails. Apart from Him, wisdom becomes folly, and strength weakness. The Church is called to be a "spiritual house" and a holy priesthood. Only spiritual people can be its "living stones," and only the Spirit-filled its priests.
"The Church always fails at the point of self-confidence. When the Church is run on the same lines as a circus, there may be crowds, but there is no Shekinah. That is why prayer is the test of faith and the secret of power. The Spirit of God travails in the prayer-life of the soul. Miracles are the direct work of His power, and without miracles the Church cannot live. The carnal can argue, but it is the Spirit of God that convicts. Education can civilize, but it is being born of the Spirit that saves. The energy of the flesh can run bazaars, organize amusements, and raise millions; but it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes a Temple of the Living God. The root-trouble of the present distress is that the Church has more faith in the world and in the flesh than in the Holy Ghost, and things will get no better till we get back to His realized presence and power. The breath of the four winds would turn death into life and dry bones into mighty armies, but it only comes by PRAYER!"
Samuel Chadwick on Preaching
“I would rather preach than do anything else I know in this world. I have never missed a chance to preach. I would rather preach than eat my dinner, or have a holiday or anything else the world can offer. I would rather pay to preach than be paid not to preach. It has its price in agony of sweat and tears and no calling has such joys and heartbreaks, but it is a calling an archangel might covet; and I thank God that of His grace He called me into this ministry. Is there any joy lke that of saving a soul from death? Any thrill like that of opening blind eyes? Any reward like the love of little children to the second and third generation? Any treasures like the grateful love of hearts healed and comforted? I tell you it is a glorious privilege to share the travail and the wine of God." On the Power of God
“To men with God all things are possible. Man plus God is, to all practical purposes of the Divine will and requirements of the Divine life omnipotent as God Himself. This means that with God all that a man ought to be, he can be, and all that a man ought to do, he can do. That is the gospel that I bring to you.” On Conversion
"Christianity is this: Christ in you; and Christ comes and dwells in you in the person of His Spirit. It was a great thing for God to be incarnate in Jesus Christ, but the incarnation of God in the believer is not one whit less wonderful. Every conversion is an incarnation, every believer is a miracle of God. You may be able to do a great many things, but you cannot make temples, and you cannot make conversions: you cannot make Christians. A man becomes a Christian by God coming to live in him." On Biographies that made a difference in his life
"No missionary biography ever made the impression on me that the “Life of James Gilmour of Mongolia” made. His constant and prayerful study was to do as Christ would have done in his place, and this was the question he constantly asked: How would the Lord Jesus act or speak in these circumstances? And the greatest spirit I ever knew was James Chalmers, who left everywhere he went the savor of his Master’s presence, and made those whom he met feel that they had had a visit from the Lord."
Download the Life of James Gilmour of Mongolia;
Download the Biography of James Chalmers) On God’s Power
“Fire is mightier than learning. A soul ablaze is a better guide to effective speech than much scholarship. It is fire that conquers the heart, and this fire still falls from heaven.” On Samuel Chadwick’s Successful Writing Ministry
"It is not often that an evangelist is successful in print. Samuel Chadwick of Leeds is a great and successful evangelist; he has published a volume of sermons which is great and successful also. How does he do it? He uses short sentences. He quotes John Wesley in preference even to John Bunyan. His doctrine is perfectly clean-cut and settled. And yet these are but the externals. He does it because he has unbounded faith in Christ, and unbounded pity for man."—From a review of Humanity and God.
"The meaning (of perfection) is the same when applied to Christian life and experience. It is the adjustment, cleansing, and equipment of man’s nature for all the purposes of the life in Christ. It is nothing more than making fit in every part to do the will of God. Everything that hinders and dislocates is taken away, the powers of mind, heart, and body are restored to their true order; and every need of grace and power is supplied. There is no deficiency, no disorder, no discord ; the man of God is made perfect for, and in the will of, God. Wesley’s definition is short, simple and scriptural, “Pure love alone reigning in the heart and life, this is the whole of Christian perfection.” (Read the rest of Chadwick’s sermon on Christian Perfection) On Things
"To the world things are everything. It longs for them, works for them, fights for them, lies for them, lives for them. Its one ambition is to possess abundance of things. To secure them it will pay any price, endure any hardship, suffer any obloquy, sacrifice any thing. Its homage and its envy are reserved for those who have the most things. It never troubles about how they got them, nor what they do with them, it is enough that they have won for themselves piles of things! The cry of the world is for things, things, things; always more things. This is a purely pagan view of life. (Read the rest of his thoughts on ’Things’") On The Meaning of the Cross (four part series)
These helpful sermons were delivered at the 25th Annual Winona (Indiana) Lake Bible Conference ,which was held in August of 1999. Some of the sermons were later published by the Winona Publishing Society. Other speakers included G. Campbell Morgan, Cortland Myers, and A. T. Robertson. Specific titles include: 1. The Cross and the Modern Mind; 2. The Cross and Personaility; 3. The Cross and the Lust of the Flesh; 4. The Cross and the World. (Read the rest of the Samuel Chadwick’s Meaning of the Cross) The Will To Do
Here are a few thoughts from this article showing that doing is as important as knowing when it comes to knowing truth, for only when we combine what we know with action do we really know. As he put it: "No man ever did either by merely mastering the theories of painting or music. The only way to learn is by doing. The will to do is the way to learn, and doing is as much a part of learning as study. The law holds in the region of truth just as surely as in art and craft." (Read the rest of this article from Joyful News) On Preaching
"Nothing makes for a preacher’s effectiveness more than a true conception of his calling. He is a messenger. That which he speaks is not his own. He is not at liberty to criticize, modify, or tamper with that which is entrusted to him; neither has he any right to withhold it from any person to whom it is sent. But he is neither a postman nor a phonograph. He delivers an open message which he has received from God for men. His first business is to wait for his message, and his next is to see that it is faithfully delivered." (Read the rest of his lecture on this subject) On Reaching Outsiders
“The real difficulty with the outsider begins at the church door. When the four men of Capernaum got the man sick of the palsy to the house where Christ was, they found the way blocked with the crowd. Some church doors are blocked against the outsider, even where there is no crowd. The church that really wants the outsider gets him, and the church that has not got him does not want him. That is the plain English of the situation. The church that is not prepared to welcome the man it invites had better go on with its pious prosing and let the outsider alone. That outsiders flock to religious services outside churches proves clearly that their objection is not against Christianity, but against the church.” (Read the rest of his presentation on reaching outsiders)