Are We Hammers Or Anvils

Are We Hammers Or Anvils?

We are either going to tread down the corruption that surrounds us on a daily basis, or else it will trample us underfoot when it takes us over.

We are either going to be the "hammers" that pound the strong and mighty blows against corruption by our godly influence and purity of lifestyle, or we will be the "anvil" that will be pounded by it and lose any influence for good.

"When the famous military leader General Gordon tried to hire a Muslim as his servant, the man refused and gave as his reason: 'You will make me a Christian' Gordon promised that he would never speak to him about religion. And still the man refused because, as he said: 'By my daily association with you I would become a Christian without a word from you. Your conduct speaks plainer than words, and I wish to avoid it. I will not be a Christian.' God give us more such Christians - Christians who by daily living will be a powerful means of influencing others so that they, too, may be attracted to His Word and through the Word be drawn into the Kingdom." - Encyclopedia Of Sermon Illustrations

The question to ask ourselves is - By our daily living, are others attracted to God's Word and through the Word drawn into the kingdom?

If we were to hire an unbeliever for a servant, would he have the same fears as this particular man had?
Would he be apprehensive to get around us because of our strong and godly influence that might pull him away from his False Religion? Does our conduct speak plainer than words? Are our lives a powerful means of affecting people?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is said that Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, who rendered outstanding service as a medical missionary in Labrador, was a guest at a dinner in London, England. A number of socially prominent individuals had been invited to the dinner. During the course of the evening a lady came up to the missionary and asked, 'Dr. Grenfell, is it really true that you are a missionary?' After a moment's silence, this servant of the Lord replied, 'Is it true, Madam, that you are not?' Is it possible that any of us assembled here in God's name this day are not witnessing for the Savior?" - Encyclopedia Of Sermon Illustrations

The question to ask ourselves is - Are we missionaries for Christ?

Some may ask - What is a missionary? Who exactly is a missionary? Is it someone who crosses the sea or someone who sees the Cross?

Have we had a revelation of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Has it affected us insomuch that, everywhere we go, we touch others through our changed lifestyle, conversation, appetites, and desires?
Is our life a witness for the Savior?
Do others know which side of the fence we are on?
In what way?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If you take a red-hot ball out of a furnace and lay it down upon a frosty moor, two processes will go on - the ball will lose its heat and the surrounding atmosphere will gain. There are two ways by which you equalize the temperature of a hotter and colder body: the one is by the hot one getting cold, and the other is by the cold one getting hot. If you are not warming the world, the world is freezing you. Every man influences all round about him, and receives influences from them, and if there be not more exports than imports, if there be not more influences and mightier influences raying out from him than coming into him, he is a poor creature, and at the mercy of circumstances. 'Men must either be hammers or anvils'; must either give blows or receive them. I am afraid that a great many of us who call ourselves Christians get a great deal more harm from the world than we ever dream of doing good to it. Remember this, 'ye are the salt of the earth.' and if you do not salt the world, the world will rot you.

Is there any difference between your ideal of happiness and the irreligious one? Is there any difference between your notion of what is pleasure, and the irreligious one? Is there any difference in your application of the rules of morality to daily life, any difference in your general way of looking at things from the way of the ungodly world? Yes, or No? Is the salt being infected by the carcass, or is it purifying the corruption? Answer the question, brother, as before God and your own conscience."
- Alexander Maclaren, Sermons For All Seasons

The question to ask ourselves is - Are we warming the world or is the world freezing us?

In what way are we influencing others for godliness?
What kind of influences are we receiving from those about us?
In our daily living, are there more "exports" than "imports"?
Are we what Alexander Maclaren would call a "poor creature" and "at the mercy of our circumstances"?

Are we hammers or anvils?
Are we giving blows unto others or are other giving blows to us?
Are we receiving more harm from the world each day than doing good to those in the world?

What about our ideal for happiness?
What about our application of the rules of morality to our daily lives?
What about the way we look at things in life?

Is there any difference, Brethren, between our perspective and that of the world's?

In Matthew 5:13 the Lord Jesus said - "Ye are the salt of the earth." What exactly did He mean by these words?

Salt makes our food flavorful and palatable. It is also a common food preservative. It was oftentimes used to preserve meat from putrefaction. Take note that it was not applied to a living thing, but rather to a dead one to keep it from rotting.

In what way are we then to be salt on this earth?

Human society can be likened unto a rotting and disintegrating carcass. We are called by God to be rubbed into this rotting mass to flavor it and to stay its corruption and total. decomposition by our godly influence. We must observe here that salt works silently, inconspicuously, and gradually. Hence, there is a silent work whereby every Christian is called by God to do. This "silent work" can be best termed as influence.

Through our godly influence, we sweeten the lives of those around us. We keep a heightened Biblical standard of morality in our lives which, in turn, affects the society in which we live. By being good and doing good through the Grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to show unto those around us a higher and better way of living.

The question is - Are we repressing evil by our purity of heart and living? Is evil afraid or ashamed to lift its ugly head in our midst? "Is the salt being infected by the carcass, or is it purifying the corruption?" Are we salting the world, or is the world rotting us? What does our everyday life show?

Unfortunately, many Christians have no effect on those around them for good. On the contrary, the world is greatly influencing them for evil.

The Lord Jesus warned us in Matthew 5:13 - "...but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

Oh, Christian! Have you lost your godly savor or influence in this world?
Have you become "good for nothing" because you have compromised and gone the way of the world?
Have you become void of spiritual life and vigor?
Have you lost the life of Christ and the witness of the Spirit in your life?

Are you what others would call a useless believer?
Have you become tasteless, insipid, and without strength and flavor?
Are you like Samson, stripped of your spiritual power, because you have layed your head in the lap of the Delilah of this world and gone to sleep concerning spiritual things and warnings?
Revelation 3:1 - Are you like the Church in Sardis - you have a name that you are alive, but in all actuality, you are dead?

Revelation 2:5 - Why not do what the Lord Jesus instructed the Church at Ephesus to do - "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works..."

It is time to come back to our First Love. This is where we went wrong in the first place. We will always stay hot and be a burning and shining light in this world if we stay in love with the Lord Jesus and continually delight ourselves in Him. We will have no problem influencing others for good when we are so filled with the Life changing Grace of God which flows into our lives as we spend time in the Word of God and prayer.

God is the God of a Second Chance. He is giving all of us an opportunity to repent and get things right with Him whereby we will once again be the salt that will affect and check the corruption all around us. Instead of us being infected by the carcass, we will be purifying the corruption in our homes, families, places of employment, neighborhoods, schools, communities, government, and even in our churches.

Matthew 5:13 - If we fail to heed this warning from the Holy Ghost to repent and turn around, the Lord Jesus will have no other choice than to remove our candlestick and render us "good for nothing" - "to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

We are either going to tread down the corruption that surrounds us on a daily basis, or else it will trample us underfoot when it takes us over. We are either going to be the "hammers" that pound the strong and mighty blows against corruption by our godly influence and purity of lifestyle, or we will be the "anvil" that will be pounded by it and lose any influence for good?

What will it be - "Hammer" or "Anvil"?

May God's Word work mightily in our lives to help us make the right choice.

May God Bless His Word.
Connie

Home | Truth Index