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Walking With God
James A. Stewart

James A. Stewart (July 13, 1910 – July 11, 1975) was a Scottish-American preacher, missionary, and evangelist whose calling from God ignited revivals across Europe and North America, proclaiming the gospel with fervor for over six decades. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, to John Stewart and Agnes Jamieson, both Irish immigrants who met in Scotland, he was the third of six children in a devout Christian family. Converted at age 14 in 1924 during a Sunday school class that left him trembling under conviction, he began preaching that year on Glasgow’s streets, later refining his ministry through practical experience rather than formal theological education, despite an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Bob Jones University in 1960. Stewart’s calling from God unfolded in 1928 when he founded the Border Movement in England, preaching at age 18 with the London Open-Air Mission, and by 1933, he launched the European Evangelistic Crusades, targeting war-torn nations like Czechoslovakia, Latvia, and Poland. Ordained informally through his early street ministry, he became the first Free World preacher behind the Iron Curtain in 1945, organizing relief and preaching amidst post-war devastation. Settling in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1948, he founded Revival Literature and wrote over 30 books, including The Phenomena of Pentecost (1960) and Evangelism Without Apology, while broadcasting on Radio Luxembourg (1949–1959). His sermons called for repentance and revival, often breaking down in tears. Married to Ruth McCracken in 1936, with three children—Sheila, James, and Sharon—he passed away at age 64 in Asheville.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of walking with God and having a perfect agreement in the theme of conversation. He shares a personal story about a jeweler who sacrificed for his children and relates it to the joy of giving for the Lord's work. The speaker also highlights the cost of evangelizing the world and the opposition from the devil. He encourages believers to have conversations about their salvation experiences and how the Lord is leading them, fostering love and burden for serving the Lord together.
Sermon Transcription
All right, so tonight I want just to speak to you from Amos, you needn't turn your Bible because you know the verse very well. I would like to expound the context of the verse, but of course then I'd be back preaching in an hour. So we'll just keep to the verse itself. Amos 3 and 3. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Now this verse has been on my heart and mind for several days before coming to Milldale. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Now the literal Hebrew is can two walk together except they make an appointment. Now please remember that when we make little changes in our King James Version that we're not discrediting the scholarship of the translators of our King James Version. Because they were men of God, they were born again, they were fundamentalists, not like those who translated our New English Bible. Both in Great Britain and America the majority were modernists. And so when there's a little slight alteration you see in our King James Version, there must be some reason. Because after all these men use Hebrew better than I know it, and you Greek better than I know it. For example we have there in Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God before ordained that we should walk in them. Well if some wise guy like myself comes along and says that's the wrong word workmanship, that the original word is poem. P-O-E-M. And so some bright fellow stands up and he preaches a sermon about poetry, that we're God's poetry or God's poem. But if you, well why didn't they say that, if that was the Greek? Well you see if you start thinking of it, for we are, why did they translate for we are his workmanship? Well what is a poem? A poem is a masterpiece of the poet. And so we are the masterpiece of God, you see. We are the masterpiece of God, for we are his workmanship. We are his new creation in Christ Jesus. And so we are the masterpiece of God, his workmanship. A sinner saved by grace. And so you know if the root meaning of the literal Hebrew of this verse is can two walk together, how can two walk together except they make an appointment? Why on all the earth do these brilliant scholars say how can two walk together except they be agreed? Well I think the verse would go something like this. How can two walk together except they make an appointment and agree together? Now the root word of this word agree comes from the Jewish tabernacle. And it was called the tent of the meeting. And you will find again and again it was the place where God appointed to meet with them. For example we have there in Exodus 25, 22, God says there will I meet with thee. Now that was at of course at the mercy seat. The tabernacle was the place of meeting, the divinely chosen appointed place where God and his people met. So I think we could translate it or just simply record the verse this way. How can two of us walk together except we make an appointment and agree together? Now first of all we must be friendly to agree to walk together. Now you know you think I'm sociable but I'm not a sociable man at all. You know I'm not a sociable man at all. Usually they telephone in Nashville to Mrs. Stewart and say is your husband gone? Is James gone? And she agrees. She says yes and they say oh hallelujah we'll come up. You see because I'm not a sociable man because I would rather you see have my intercourse with God than my intercourse with man. And I would rather just be walking with God and alone with God than with anybody else. And if I paid all the social visits and all the social calls in the city where I live I would not be a man of God at all. A man came, I said to a man not too very long ago I said I never see you why don't you come and visit me? Well he said I did. He came one Sunday afternoon with my wife and we hammered at that back door. We rang the bell but you couldn't hear us because you thundered us out because you were praying. We could hear you outside when you were praying inside. Well we must you see I'm not a social man at all. I love people but I'm anti-social I can assure you. But you see before you can walk together, agree to walk together, you must be friends. Now a lot of people would like to walk with me. A lot of people would like to walk with you. Now when they start dating in Britain they don't say now will you give me a date. They say would you give me a walk. Because in my days there were very few young people in Britain even today have automobiles. And so they say to the father, the mother, even in Europe very politely excuse me Mr. Jones, excuse me Mr. Smith, could I take your daughter out for a walk? You see this is the European way still. Especially of course among evangelicals. We never date without the mother and father's permission. And they say to the mother and father can I excuse me Mr. Smith, I've just come to see you. Not in church of course. They go direct to the home and say could I take Mary out for a walk? And the father says yes, you may take Mary out for a walk. Well who wants to walk with a young lady that you don't love. And so you have to love a person to walk with him or you're bored to death. Now when I go on a ship by myself across the Atlantic, my family's not with me, you know, I'm anti-social right away because you see there's four men sleeping with a cabin with me and I've got to spend five and a half days with these fellas and I'm anti-social because you see I just don't know who they are. And I've got to eat with them, sleep with them, and I've got to be with them, close contact with them for five and a half days maybe. So I just give them yes sir, good day sir, my name is, what's your name, and that's it by the end until I get to know them. So you have to be very friendly with a person to agree to walk with them. Now I would like to make this an entirely spiritual message, you know, but only about walking with God. And that would be wonderful, but I have to make it practical as well and maybe I'm all mixed up. But if you, you must love the Lord to want to walk with him. And look, you see, he walked with God and he walked with God because he loved God. And you see, you will never walk with your brother and sister except you love your brother and sister. In other words, you will never have holy intercourse and fellowship with them unless you love them. And you know, one of the greatest joys of the Christian life, after having fellowship with Lord Jesus Christ himself, is having fellowship with those who love them. As I said to you the other night, the greatest sacrifice a missionary makes is not leaving his family and not leaving his home or his country, but is leaving his own home church. You can say to the missionary, what is the greatest sacrifice you have made? And they'll say, oh, giving up my own home church while they miss the fellowship of the saints. And then, of course, before we can walk together, there must be a perfect agreement as to the appointed meeting place. Now, of course, our meeting place with our walk with God begins at Calvary. Of course, I could bring that out about the Masses and so on in the tabernacle, but that's not my idea tonight. We must have a definite agreement, the place of appointment. Where will we meet? And then, of course, there must also be an agreement about the direction of the walk. Which way are we walking? And then the termination of the walk. Well, I want to be very definite in the way I'm walking, the course I'm walking. And according to Ephesians 2, I used to walk according to the course of this world. But now, glory be to God, I'm walking in fellowship with God, and I'm walking on the pathway of holiness. And my direction is heaven, and my termination is heaven. Now, my destination is not a halfway destination. I have determined to walk with God until the day he translates me home to glory, like Enoch. Enoch was not, for God took him and he walked with God. And surely there is no believer here tonight who has any reservations whatsoever. I mean, you couldn't be a believer if you had any reservations. I don't care, you could be bounced underwater by every Baptist preacher in the state, but I still say you're a baptized candidate going to hell, if you don't have the desire to walk with God all the way to glory. I have never had a desire during the past 43 years, at any time, not even for one minute, just to walk with God for a short way, a little bit distant. No, I have decided to follow Jesus, as we say. And so there must be a perfect agreement as to the direction of walking, it's a direction toward heaven. And the destination of the walk, and that is glory land. And glory be to God, Peter could say, I'm kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. And we have made up our mind that we're going to walk with God right to the very uttermost, and through all the dark days and all the bright days, right to the very end. And then of course, there also must be an appropriate agreement about the theme of the conversation of the walk. Now, they tell us, of course, that if you love each other, you don't need to talk too much. It's only those who don't love each other that keep on talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. I don't know. But the wife loves to be reminded occasionally from her husband that he loves her all right. That's all right. But I couldn't, I wouldn't enjoy walking with anybody if we didn't talk, because that's when I talk to my wife, when we have a walk together, and I don't let her talk. I do all the talking. But never mind, we talk. And we must agree together the theme of the conversation. Now, you can imagine that when they were having, going on the camels and having their walk on the camels, that Isaac and Rebecca had only one theme of the conversation, and that was Isaac. You see, at the early hours of the Sabbath, and Rebecca. And she would just keep on saying, tell me more about Isaac, tell me more about Isaac. Now, we have agreed, the moment God saved our souls, we agreed at this place of a Calvary, that the theme of our conversation to glory was going to be the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, brother and sister, when you get together with another brother and sister, then make sure that in some way the Lord Jesus Christ is the theme of your conversation. When I first came to this state, for the first time I had the Negro spiritual, I thought they weren't cute. I don't think so now, but when I first had them, I thought they're awfully cute. And one of them was, if I remember right, the one I liked the best was, I feel so much better, do you know that one is ever done here, talking about this good old way, I feel so much better talking about the Lord, hallelujah. Now, you know, you can go about gossiping and talking about other brothers and against other brothers and sisters, and what will happen, you'll get farther and farther and farther away from the Lord. And he, and I tell you another thing that Mrs. Stewart and myself have discovered in our Christian experience, even though that what you say about the brother and sister may be right, somehow there's a deadly coldness comes into your heart, as if there's an ice pack in your heart. Now, you see, that is why many times those who earnestly contend for the faith lose their love for the Lord Jesus. Now, we ought to be earnest to contend for the faith and stand up and denounce modernism in every shape and form. At the same time, we must be very careful that we maintain our love life with our blessed Lord. Now, we have a sister that we know very well, and she never enters any home, but within three or four minutes she's changed the conversation around to the Lord Jesus Christ. I had a letter from one of our young missionaries back home on furlough, and she said to me, Dr. Stewart said, I'm so glad I'm going back to the field. And she said, because, she says, we're invited out to a home. And she says, when I leave the home, my heart is empty, because we have talked just about empty things. But she says, back in the mission field, when I leave the homes of our believers, we talk about the Lord. When I go back home, my heart is full. Now, we have to talk about practical things. You've got to talk about, I needed a clean shirt tonight. I had to tell my wife I did. Well, you have to be practical. We're not in heaven yet. But somehow or other, we must let the theme of our conversation be as much as possible, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I just wept when I read during the journals of John and Wesley, when he said that when he went to Herrnhut in Germany, it's now in the Soviet zone. He said, when I went to Herrnhut in Germany, and I stayed there among the, stayed there among the Moravian brethren, the Zinzendorf people. He said, for the first time in my life, I was among a heavenly people, because we had a heavenly conversation. It was heaven and earth. And they were left together in this community, hundreds of them. They had their own town, can you imagine, and all born again, all loving the Lord, their own city. Hundreds of them. And he said, the theme of the conversation was the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's so easy in these days to get away from the theme of our conversation, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. And then, you know, there must be also the decision of the theme of the conversation. When you go about, now I think, I've been talking to pastors, and I think also to the, to, to Brother Manley, too, that I'd like to see some walks here. And I had a dream, I hope it comes true. All the dreams I have don't come true, because I was captured the other night and arrested by the Russians, so I hope that doesn't come true. But anyhow, I had a dream, and I could see a walk there, and it said the Maranatha Pathway. Then there was another sign, and it read down the way, the Emirate Highway, you see. And then another said Canaan Road. Well, when that ground gets a little bit dry, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have some gravel around there, and then during the conferences, a brother can hitch up with another brother, and a sister can go with another sister, and walk down the pathway, and just talking about the Lord. How are you, brother? How are you, sister, since the last time I saw you? And what's your experience with the Lord? You see, the old Methodists, they had what they called class meetings in Great Britain. And the, and all these meetings, they had them twice a week, and everybody stood up, you see, they didn't have passers at all. They didn't need passers, just a waste of time, because they all ministered, you see. And so they all stood up, and they told what God had done for them that week. They had an up-to-date God. Now, I think that that's one of the, the beauties of a conference, or a camp meeting, is where we can meet brothers and sisters from other, other places, other states, and churches, and, and churches, and say, let's go for a walk, and then just let's talk about the Lord. You tell me how you were saved, and I'll tell you how I was saved. You tell me how the Lord is leading you, and I'll tell you how the Lord is leading me. And then, you see, when you begin to talk about the Lord, there's a love comes there. And there's a little bit of a, a, a, a, a tear, maybe, in the eye. And then there's a, there's a pang in the heart. And then there's a burden comes. And before you know what you're doing, both of you are talking, saying, now, what are we going to do for our blessed Lord? What are you going to do for your, our blessed Lord? My spiritual father, Mr. Tom Ray, never, and never ended, never let a conversation end, or a, you know, with anybody, without saying, now, what have we accomplished? And my wife used to laugh, because every time you would talk with me, when we would just say, about to shake hands and go away, you'd say, now, James, what have we accomplished? In other words, he didn't just want hot air. You see? And he never ended up any conversation. Now, this man was a living miracle, because, you know, he lost blood every day. He, he was a, a dying man. And he, he went on preaching until he was seventy-four. But he was a dying man when I got saved under his ministry at fourteen. He was a dying man. But you see, he, he just had hemorrhages after hemorrhages. But you see, every conversation, now, what have we accomplished? Now, we have a lot of, a lot of hot air around our conversation. And I believe, friend, that there must be a definite decision about, about, say, there must be a definite decision concerning the theme of our conversation. We know it will be Christ. But it's another impossibility for me to talk about my Lord that I don't want others to know about him. And you see, my first burden used to be for the unsaved, that they might get to know him. And then my second burden was that believers might get to know him better. And then the Lord changed around my ministry. My ministry is first to believers and then to unbelievers now. Every time I, I, I get a vision of my Lord, my heart breaks and I have to write, you see. Why? That other believers might get to know my Jesus better, and love him better, and serve him better, and do something for him. And you know that when you, the more you get to love him, the more you want everybody to know him. And you say, I have such a wonderful Savior that everybody should know. And so you have to agree if you're walking together in a church like this. Even a man and a wife together, a family, you know. My mother agreed. She, my, my father, you know, was 14 years ill in hospital. My father went home to glory about six months after I was saved, just, just before I was 15 years of age. So I didn't know my father too much. That's why you don't hear me talk too much about my father. But my father was a wonderful man of God. And he, he had a, used to go to bed every night with a thank you hymn book and sing, started to sing right through the voice of the foghorn. And he was always singing every night. He sang three hours every night at home, nonstop. I'm glad he wasn't a preacher, but never mind. And there he was, singing. But my mother, she gathered us around and she, and she said to us, now, even before we were saved, now you said, remember, this family has only one purpose for living. And we knew, same old thing again, we called it trite these days, same old thing, just to live for Jesus and one soul. Mother said, that's the only, only thing you're here to live, live for, is to win men and women for the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, the mother of the Salvation Army said to her daughter, Katie, remember, you're a child of destiny and the world is waiting on you. No fancy telling a little girl of seven years of age that, Katie, you're a child of destiny and the world is waiting for you. Now friends, there must be an agreement. If you walk together as a church, if you walk together as believers, just say, even if you're engaged to be married or two young people, no matter who you are, man and wife or a family, there must be a perfect agreement. And what is the, what, and the decision concerning the walking with God, after you've had this immediate conversation in Christ, then you get together and say, now, what am I going to do? What are we going to do for our blessed Lord? And then you agree together by prayer. You get along with God and you agree. Now there's always something wrong if husband and wife disagree. Now, of course, if they're both are saved, usually it is the Holy Spirit reveals to the husband, not the wife, usually reveals to the husband and the wife in a way. Now, Abraham, we blow up Abraham, but I'm for, I'm for his wife every day. I never talk about Abraham, very rare, but Abraham saved his wife, even more faith than he had, because she didn't know where she was going. She just was going out with her husband because God called her husband to give up everything. And it was a very wealthy man. He'd be a millionaire, Abraham, and leaving everything behind to go out. And she, and she didn't, she didn't even make grumble about packing up her bag and cases and going. She just followed her husband because the Lord called her husband. But you see, there has to be a perfect agreement together and say, now, Lord, what I'm going to do. I was not a perfect agreement. You wait on the Lord and you talk lovingly to each other, whoever you are together. And as a church, you talk lovingly to each other. And then as you wait upon God, there is a common agreement. Now, if there's a disagreement, it's a bedevil. Remember that? It could be, if there's this harmony, it comes from hell. It can't come from heaven. Because we are told in Psalm 133 that the harmony, the agreement among God's people is something beautiful. How beautiful. We read there in Psalm 133 and 1. How beautiful, how wonderful, how glorious it is when believers dwell together in unity, in perfect harmony and agreement. And there's a holy love permeating the atmosphere of the church. And we all agree together. And the Holy Ghost, he wouldn't tell me one thing and tell you another thing. It's such a possibility. I remember I visited a small assembly belonging to the Open Brethren in Great Britain. And they were astonished when I wrote and I said, I feel the Holy Ghost wants me to come to you for a one-month meeting. There was a little handful of believers. They had no money. They had just a little hut to meet in. When I got there, they said, Jimmy, we're so glad you've come, sonny. You know that we have written to many outstanding evangelists to come, and everyone is booked up solid and can't come. So they've told us. And then I went to another big Brethren assembly with about a thousand members. And you know what the correspondent of that Brethren assembly told me? He said, Jimmy, we're so glad you've come for this month of August. But 25 evangelists have written us that they feel the letter of the Holy Ghost to come for this month of August to us for a meeting. Well, some of them are telling a lie. Some of them are lying. And you see, when there's disagreement, it's of hell. It couldn't be of God. There must be a perfect harmony. And you see, our home is a replica of heaven. You see, it should be a place of laughter, a place of fun, a place of discipline, a place of holy joy and holiness. And the church is just heaven and earth, heaven begun below. And there should be such love and harmony in the church like as if we're in heaven together. These are very difficult. I have a very difficult day. Past weeks, I haven't told Mrs. Stewart, because you can't just tell your wife everything. But you know, getting connections with, reconnections with our friends behind the R.M. Curtin has hurt me so much. It gives me such sadness. You know, you say, well, it's 22 years ago since I was in that home. It was 20 years ago since I was in Romania. And just the other day, we're in correspondence with one of our missionaries. We can't send him any money because he's in Romania. And we're in correspondence now with him after maybe 24 years. And we're only human. When we feel a little bit of sadness, time is passing, and then we haven't seen him for 24 to 20 years or so. And this sadness comes into our heart. But how wonderful it is that when we can all come together. And the reason why I have this sadness is because these were churches, holy churches. And many of these dear brothers and sisters have gone home to glory. And I'm writing to the young generation. And you see, it is wonderful. I won this young generation to Christ. And then they write me back and say that their children are serving the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? You see, this is the second and third generation. I haven't seen them. They send me pictures postcards, pictures of them now. But the reason why I get so sad I can't meet with them is because that was heaven on earth. And you know, when the revival comes, people, people think, if this, if heaven is anything like this, I couldn't stand it any longer. Oh yes, sure. And say, if the Lord Jesus Christ walked in that building in this golden night, I tell you, what would you do? And that's what revival, the Lord's among us, the Lord and all his wonderful power and glory. And there's that wonderful love and that wonderful, perfect agreement. And now, are we going to agree together to do things for the Lord? Now, thank God for Grant and Guinness who said, attend great things for God, expect great things from God. Now, you know, when God has a job on hand or a contract on hand, it's the man or woman of faith that gets the job every time. And God is looking for men and women who can trust him, who could launch out into the deep. And you know, I have long plans. You know, not only, I'm looking for the Lord to come any day, but I've just got to carry on as if the Lord's not coming any day. John Wesley said, he would just carry on if he knew the Lord was coming tomorrow. He said, I'd do just exactly the day, what I just exactly do tomorrow, what if I knew the Lord was coming tomorrow, I'd do exactly the day what I did yesterday. He was ready to do the Lord. Doesn't mean now because the Lord's coming, I'm not going to help in the camp meeting. I'm going to do nothing. I'm going to carry on right on until the Lord calls me home. And I don't know when the Lord's coming. So I have long range plans and that's going to cost thousands of dollars. And we're trusting God to send in these thousands of dollars. Now, every time I see my blessed Lord and I walk with him, my heart craves and my heart longs. Oh Jesus, blessed Lord Jesus. I want everybody in this whole wide world to know you. And I want to plant the bloodstained banner of Calvary back into these towns and villages in Britain where the gospel has died out or his alm is died out. And I want to get them my books out to help to train these native pastors and events all over the world that these millions of Muslims and Buddhists might be saved. Like in Indonesia, I suppose we sent more of our books to Indonesia, these islands have a hundred million people anywhere else. We send them up with a thousand there. And that you see, you can't look into the face of your Lord and walk with him and have a lovely time with him and not have to come to say to some day, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? We've got to do something for him. You can make it, you can make up your mind that if you're going to do something for your blessed Lord Jesus, it's going to cost you something. It's going to cost you something. You know, it's not easy. For example, for your evangelist, if you leave home, that's not easy. You know, because they, you, you might think living in a motel is a lovely thing. It's all right for maybe one night, they'll just leave it off and get away from everybody or live in and live in other people's homes. Now it's nice living in other people's homes occasionally, but sometimes if you live three or four weeks, it's not so easy away from the family, away from the children, you can get lonely, strange places, new situations. And you come into a church, you know nothing about it. And the pastor says everything's all right in this church and they're ready for revival. And he's telling a dumb white liar they're not ready for revival. And he's fooled you, you see. And, and, and you can, when I leave, when I used to leave, Mrs. Stewart could always tell what was wrong. I never wrote her when I came to a church that needed revival because I was in so depressed and darkness and fasting and praying. I couldn't let anybody until I got the victory. Now it's not, it's going to cost you something. And those who have to stay at home, you've got to pay a price. You've got to pay a sacrifice. Now I know that when people get excited to say that there's no such a thing as sacrifice, well, I don't believe that. I believe that when you live out this life, there's a lot of sacrifice with it and you feel it. You know, we had one missionary and she was telling an experience once in a church that she had terrible news, her mother suddenly died and the mother in Canada. And she, and then, and she said, and I couldn't go to the funeral. And the pastor's wife said, and what did you do? Well, she said, what did we do? Of course, she said that the missionary was an automatic machine that couldn't wait. She said, every missionary is human just like you. She said, of course, I just sat down and cried. Now it costs something. You see, it costs something. Not easy for your mother to be ill and you're 6,000 miles away from her. And trust God. Not easy to have a sick child in a mission field and no doctor within a thousand miles. And you can put it down in your diary that if you're going to do something for God, it's going to cost you something. Maybe cost you the, even the, this is the offense of the cross. And you can get the offense of the cross among believers as well as among unbelievers. In fact, you'll get more offense of the cross among carnal Christians than you will among unbelievers because unbelievers respect people who believe what they believe. But it's the cold half-hearted Christian that will criticize others who are trying to do everything for Jesus Christ. Now, if you have recently, you know, been a critical to the Lord, and we've been upset and saying, Oh Lord, that this is a costing me a lot and costing me money. And I'd like to buy this and I'd like to get that. And if you've been as critical about that, some of the things sacrificed in the Christian life, you better go to the altar and I can pass it. You just say sometimes and you say, Oh God, I just can't go any farther. Just ask the Holy Ghost to give you a gaze of the dying Lamb of Calvary, and you'll be able to go farther. All right, you'll be able to go farther. But let us put it down a spiritual value that if we are going to accomplish anything for God, we've agreed together, Oh God, we're, we're made this agreement. This is what we're going to do for you. Then it's going to cost you something. Mr. Stern might say we could write books galore, just of a, a ordinary common people and what it costs them to serve God. I had a friend, a jeweler, if you please. And he gave, I think, four children for the foreign mission field. And I think the four of them died. And he went because he hadn't got another son to send. Now, you know, sometimes we have to do it through our tears. Tears, tears, tears of sorrow, and other times it's tears of joy. And I'm a Scotsman, and of course, naturally, my greatest joy is to be able to have some money to give for the Lord's work. That's my greatest joy in life, to have some money to give for the Lord's work. And it's, and I say this, that if we're going to evangelize the world, you know, it's going to cost, it's going to cost us sacrificially with money. And you know, if we're going to evangelize the world through the tap, through these campgrounds, it's going to cost money. It's going to cost blood, and it's going to cost sweat, and it's going to cost tears. Because you see, the devil hates the camp meetings. I was asked by a very, very matured elderly brother the other day, a very outstanding American evangelist. He said to me, Brother James, he said, what is most important, a Bible conference or a camp meeting? And I said, a camp meeting every time. Now we thank God for the Bible expositors. Oh, I thank God for dear brothers, Brother Sheehan, who is coming. Blessed Bible expositors who could lift us up to the heavenly realms in Christ and expound the word to us and make our hearts dance for joy. And I thank God for the Bible conferences and Bible expositors. But oh friend, give me a camp meeting any time, when we can call God's people to repentance, and when we can make a full surrender to the Lord. And we can say, Lord, what will thou have me to do? Oh God, everything I have is thine. Now, are you willing to make the sacrifice tonight? Will you get together and make the agreement? Now we need these camp meetings. Dr. Lee told me when he was here, he said, Dr. Stewart, he said, this is what our Baptist churches in America need. I'll say something more than that. I'll say, unless we have more camp meetings, the evangelical fundamental Baptist churches will die out in America. I believe that. And if there ever was a day when we needed the Milldale camp meeting, it's today. Now, let us get together in a holy unity, and let's pray this money in. Will we? Pray this money in together in faith, as I said, on Sunday night, that we'll be able to go about saying, God did this, God did this, God did this, God did this, and you know, believers will come hundreds and hundreds of miles just to see God working. Do you know that? Do you know that people would come from Australia just to see a revival broke out here? They would come from Australia, fly in from Australia just to see a revival. And you know this? And people are looking, Christians don't see God very much. Their meetings are so lifeless and dead, and their Christian life is so mediocre, and they're just longing and hungering to see God do some new thing. And God says, behold, I will do a new thing. Let's expect and believe God to do a new thing. And let us pray mightily in perfect harmony and unity concerning the camp meetings, and that God will continue. And when God sends in more money for these camp meetings, there'll be all evidences that the Lord did this. And then, let me just say that if we do not have the utmost question now, of course, the, let me just say before I close, the power of the unity. And you know, of course, the verse is Matthew 18 and 20. But if two of you shall agree touching anything, and the word is not so much synchronized as harmonized, like a symphony orchestra. That's the actual Greek word. And there's a perfect harmony in the symphony orchestra. There's no discord. There's perfect agreement. Agreement of sound, you say. Now, if two of you shall agree on touching anything, it shall be done by my Father which is in heaven. Now, is the Lord Jesus telling us a lie? No, no, he couldn't tell a lie. And you know, as good as sometimes a few sisters could get together. Now, please remember that if two sisters like each other, it doesn't mean that I have a clique against other sisters. If some brothers here like each other, it doesn't mean they have a clique against some other brothers. Oh, no. It's just that some folks I like more than other people. But that doesn't mean I hate the rest. I love everybody, you see. We're all different temperaments, you see. And so, we don't believe in cliques. But it's good if two sisters can get together, or two brothers, or three brothers, or three sisters, and say, now, let's have a prayer meeting. And then you await upon the Lord, and then you have perfect agreement what you're going to pray about. That's what that verse means. And you synchronize, or you have a perfect agreement together, like the symphony of an orchestra. And you agree together and say, these are the things we have to pray about. I've seen before getting down together in Europe with our missionaries, and it's been astonishing when I've said, now, we're going to have a time of prayer, what are the things we're going to pray for? And we all agreed. In fact, there wasn't one thing extra that we should pray about, because this was a perfect agreement of the Holy Ghost together, that we should pray for this one thing. And then, of course, the closing question would be is, what happens if we do not have this agreement, this harmony, this divine appointment one with another? And, of course, that brings us to that blessed breath in 1 Corinthians, or rather, 1 John 1, 7. And we love this verse so much, and we know we love this very, very first practical chapter of the first epistle of John, and how glorious and how practical it is. And we think, and we delight ourselves in this glorious fellowship, but it says in verse 7, but if we walk in the light, not according to the light, but in the light, that's where the Lord Jesus is, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we are fellowshiped one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, present tense or continuous tense, keeps on cleansing us from all sins. Now, this is not so much my Lord and myself walking in fellowship together, but it's my walking in fellowship with my wife, walking in fellowship with my family, walking in fellowship with my brothers and my sisters. But if we walk in the light as he, our blessed Lord, is in the light, we are fellowshiped one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, keeps us on cleansing us from all sins. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, faithful and just to the sacrificial death of his son, because we are justified by his blood. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, when we are not walking in the light together in perfect harmony, then there must be confession of sins. There must be that confession of sins. And so, let us pray tonight that we will have this blessed holy harmony. Now, please pray. We're going to separate as usual for a little while. The sisters can go for a few minutes to the back, and we men will pray here a little. But I said I would keep this a short meeting. Oh, yes, I forgot. I'll keep this a short meeting tonight. So, we'll pray together where we are. Let us pray together in the perfect harmony and unity, O God, that come down in blessing upon our services here tomorrow. Now, you know that here you have a tremendous responsibility, because the Savior is saying to you of this church, you see, all authority in heaven and earth is given unto me, go ye therefore. Because all authority in heaven and earth is given unto me, go ye therefore. I'm giving you my authority. Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, you're a privileged people, and the devil's going to fight you, because you see, you have evangelists here, and they're reaching tens of thousands every year. You have the revival fires going out and reaching thousands of homes every month, and you have the missionaries. You are missionaries, we are among your missionaries, and we are going out preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And God has done already in just a short few years amazing things in the camp meeting. Now, you know, he just delights to do the miraculous, doesn't he? He delights to surprise us. And I never have any ifs or maybes at all when I go to God in prayer. I have such perfect confidence that it's God's will that he should bless me more. I have perfect confidence that he'll bless me more. And so when we go to prayer, don't say, oh God, if it be thy will that we enlarge. You see, never say that. God wants to enlarge all the time, all the time. And get going and keep on going and moving out to the very uttermost part of the earth. As I say again and again, it's not a nice sound, but I'll often ask the Lord, he could give me a better one, but he hasn't, so I have to use it. And that is that God makes a fool of us. Oh, I could tell you stories of how God makes perfect fools of people again and again and again and again. And while we're arguing, then suddenly God comes in and he just sends in the money while we're arguing. I told you about one of our missionaries recently. I wrote her and I said, now, you know, please, your room is so cold and it's an old house. And I said, you can't have your quiet time of prayer. This is a wonderful young lady of prayer. And I said, you can't kneel in prayer because you're frozen in the room. I said, go and get wall-to-wall carpeting. I said, nobody in America is against you having wall-to-wall carpeting in your bedroom. And you can have a nice bedroom. This is all the home you have. And then you'll be warm and you can kneel down and pray and go home with God and get to business. And I said, just you go on in faith and order the carpet. And she didn't have faith, nor just made a perfect fool of her. She could have done it three or four times over and over. Yeah. And so let's expect great things for God, attempt great things for God, and expect great things for God. Amen. Let's pray. For more information, you can visit them online at revivallit.org.
Walking With God
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James A. Stewart (July 13, 1910 – July 11, 1975) was a Scottish-American preacher, missionary, and evangelist whose calling from God ignited revivals across Europe and North America, proclaiming the gospel with fervor for over six decades. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, to John Stewart and Agnes Jamieson, both Irish immigrants who met in Scotland, he was the third of six children in a devout Christian family. Converted at age 14 in 1924 during a Sunday school class that left him trembling under conviction, he began preaching that year on Glasgow’s streets, later refining his ministry through practical experience rather than formal theological education, despite an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Bob Jones University in 1960. Stewart’s calling from God unfolded in 1928 when he founded the Border Movement in England, preaching at age 18 with the London Open-Air Mission, and by 1933, he launched the European Evangelistic Crusades, targeting war-torn nations like Czechoslovakia, Latvia, and Poland. Ordained informally through his early street ministry, he became the first Free World preacher behind the Iron Curtain in 1945, organizing relief and preaching amidst post-war devastation. Settling in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1948, he founded Revival Literature and wrote over 30 books, including The Phenomena of Pentecost (1960) and Evangelism Without Apology, while broadcasting on Radio Luxembourg (1949–1959). His sermons called for repentance and revival, often breaking down in tears. Married to Ruth McCracken in 1936, with three children—Sheila, James, and Sharon—he passed away at age 64 in Asheville.