In this sermon, the commentator, Ray Brubaker, discusses the importance of cherishing and protecting our God-honoring freedoms. He references Haggai 1:8 to highlight the consequences of neglecting our ways and not fully utilizing the blessings we have received. Brubaker urges listeners to be ready for the return of Christ by repenting of their sins and fully trusting in Him. He emphasizes the need for the ministry to focus on winning souls and encouraging believers, rather than getting caught up in social clubs and other worldly pursuits.

Ray Brubaker's Classic Radio. This is Ray Brubaker's Classic Radio, news-related subjects in light of the Bible. And now, here's your commentator, Ray Brubaker. Thank you, and again we send greetings to our friends everywhere. I'm sure we're all waiting to hear the outcome of the hearings in Washington, to learn what action is being contemplated for amending the Constitution, so as to permit prayer and Bible reading in public schools, and protect other of our God-honoring freedoms. The scripture that was brought to my mind while preparing today's commentary is found in Haggai 1.8, where we read, Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. Ye have so much, and bring in little. Ye eat, but ye have not enough. Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink. Ye clothe you, but there is none warm. And he that earneth wages, to put it into a bag with holes. I'm wondering if our cherished freedoms, one with blood and sweat and tears, are being carried about in a bag with holes. We're fast losing them to the far winds. It was the right to pray, and to have an open Bible, that our forebearers came to these shores. May God help us when it is no longer possible in our schools to open the Bible and to pray. If these practices can be ruled unconstitutional in our schools, one day there can be found reason to rule the Bible out of our homes. The Bible speaks of such a day that is fast coming, called the Great Tribulation, when men will die for their testimony and for the Word of God. Don't be surprised if someday the Bible will be banned in America. When Hitler took over Germany, he banned the Bible and introduced Mein Kampf. Arthur Radford, one-time chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in this country, once declared, If I were a dictator, the first book I would destroy is the Bible. Without our little children learning the truths of the Bible, it is like earning wages to put them into a bag with holes. Wellington put it this way, Educate children without God, and you make them but clever devils. No, I can't see taking every acknowledgement of God from the classroom. Remember several years ago when we read of those who were objecting to the Ten Commandments posted in the schools of New York City, and who was doing the objecting? Was it atheists or infidels? No, it happened to be the clergy. At the hearings in Washington, we listened as one of the members of the Judiciary Committee inquired of a certain minister who was opposing prayer and Bible reading in the public schools. Let's suppose a child at school hears the Bible read and decides he would like to come down to your church and hear more of the Word of God. You would not be in favor of this, asked the congressman. The minister replied, No. All that the congressman could do was to shake his head. Oh, that we had more of the old-fashioned kind of ministers in our pulpit today, who found enough in the Bible to preach that he didn't have to talk about civil rights, or give book reviews, or be out somewhere demonstrating to show loyalty to a cause no matter how worthwhile. Reading of demonstrations abroad, we hate to see the day come in America when politicians must be influenced by street demonstrations. Just remember the first part of demonstration is spelled D-E-M-O-N. We can't help but wonder if much of what we are seeing today is demon-inspired. My friends, the ministry is a full-time job, winning souls and encouraging the saints without promoting social clubs, civic projects, and school reforms. Surely this is needed, but when this becomes the message instead of the gospel, we are feeding people out of a bag with holes. The yesteryear preacher of early Methodism had a copy of Rules for a Preacher's Conduct, which he read and kept, or got out of the ministry. In this volume you'll find these words. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. Observe it is not only your business to preach so many times, but to save as many as you can, to bring as many sinners as you can to repentance, and with all your heart to build them up in holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. John Wesley once said, Give me a hundred ministers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God. I care not astray whether they be clergymen or laymen. Such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. Dr. Spurgeon similarly stated, Oh for 500 Elijahs, and each one upon his karma, crying unto God, we would soon have the clouds bursting into heavenly showers. Oh for more prayer, more constant incessant prayer, then God's blessings would reign upon us. Ah my friends, this is what is needed in our pulpits today. Thank God for men of vision and men of prayer who are true prophets of God, telling forth the divine message, rather than politicians straddling the fence to be popular with the masses, with no real convictions and no message. Joseph Parker once declared, I should like a man to arise among us, a true revivalist, a man with a swinging bell, who with tongues of fire and Pentecostal blaze and flame of inspiration, will go up and down the land awakening the people. Ah, that's it. Like sleeping virgins, the church needs to be aroused and awakened to the lateness of the hour. This appears to be the midnight hour when true loyal faithful men of God should all be warning of coming judgment and urging the placing of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God bless all of the faithful ministers in our pulpits today who are preaching, not for prestige or popularity or prosperity, but because of love for Christ, and love for lost souls. Spurgeon addressing a group of ministers, once used as his text, Genesis 4, 10. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. He was trying to get across how we are God's watchmen, responsible for the souls of men. Says Spurgeon, God knoweth how oft this body trembles with horror at the thought lest the blood of souls should be required at my hands. What shall I say of the unfaithful preacher, the slumbering watchman of souls, the man who swore at God's altar that he was called of the Holy Ghost to preach the word of God? What shall I say of the minister of unholy life whose corrupt practices out of the pulpit has made the most telling things in the pulpit to be of no avail? What shall I say of the man who amused the audience with petty things, when he ought to be aroused and arouse their own consciences? Who has been preaching a dead morality when he ought to have lifted Christ on high as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness? What shall I say of the man who out of the pulpit has made a jest of the most solemn things, whose life has been so devoid of holy passion and devout enthusiasm that men have thought truth to be fiction, religion a stage play, prayer a nullity, the spirit of God a phantom, and eternity a joke? Concludes Spurgeon, will some of the judgment say we trusted our minister? But oh, he did not tell us of our sin, he did not plead with us to be saved. He left us to ourselves. He was cold when his heart should have been hot. He was a man without tears and had a heart without sympathy for us. Ah, God help us. As ministers, ours is a tremendous responsibility. If we don't preach Christ, who will? If we don't practice what we preach, we can't expect our people to follow our example. If we don't uphold the cause of righteousness and favor acknowledgments of Almighty God as sovereign in the life of this nation, who will? What has been most disappointing has been the attitude of the various denominations toward prayer and Bible reading in the public schools. When you read of all the groups favoring devotional exercises in the schools, such as our governors and state legislatures, some 170 congressmen in Washington who filed resolutions urging a constitutional amendment, along with the American Legion and other patriotic and civic groups, why is it that the church has become the strongest foe of legislation designed to protect religious liberty in America? Perhaps the reason is given to us again in the Bible. John the Revelator looks down through the corridor of time to see the last church of the end time, the Laodicean church, and then writes, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched and poor and miserable and blind and naked. Could this be a picture of our modern-day church with her modern architecture, the latest furnishings, plush carpeting, foam rubber seating, indirect lighting, air conditioning, but void of the gospel of Jesus Christ, an anemic, lukewarm, wishy-washy, flowery oration for a sermon? It is to this church that our Lord beckons. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thy eye with eye-sad that thou mayest see. It is in times like these that the church is purified, so that sometimes we wonder if we may not see a measure of persecution or tribulation before the Lord comes. Gold tried in the fire, white raiment, clear-eye sight, all depict the believer's readiness in view of our Lord's return. And we would ask, are you ready? Have you responded to the call of God in your life? Have you repented of your sins to fully trust Christ? And are you living in momentary expectancy for His coming? Indeed, be you therefore ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man coming. Thank you for listening to Ray Brubaker's Classic Radio. For a free audio of this message, visit raybrubaker.com on the Internet. May God richly bless you is our prayer.