THE EDWARD KIMBALL STORY
You may have never heard the name Edward Kimball. To you he may be a nobody.. .but he is somebody. He was a Sunday School teacher who learned he was going to die. He had very little time to live. So he went out to lead all of his Sunday School students to the Lord. He led one to the Lord in the stockroom of a store. That young man’s name was D.L. Moody.
Moody was preaching in the British Isles and a lady teacher was so moved by his testimony that she told it to her class. She, in turn, told her preacher. Frederick Brotherton Meyer, that every one of her students had given their hearts to the Lord. Meyer had heard Moody’s testimony, but was not moved. But the report by the teacher had a profound effect on his life. He said that he realized for the first time what it meant to be brokenhearted about sin and pointing people to Christ.
Meyer came to America and preached at Moody’s school in Northfield, Massachusetts. He said, “If you’re not willing to give up everything for Christ, are you willing to be made willing?” That remark changed the life of a young preacher named J. Wilbur Chapman. Chapman went on to become a great evangelist of his era. But when he decided to return to the pastorate, he turned his ministry over to a YMCA clerk who had been his advance man. The young man’s name: Billy Sunday. In 1924, Sunday conducted a revival in Charlotte, N.C.
Out of those meetings came a group of laymen that formed a permanent organization to continue witnessing for Christ in their city. Eight years later, in 1932, that same group brought an evangelist named Mordecai Ham to town for citywide meetings. One evening,a lanky sixteen year old walked out of the choir and gave his heart to Jesus Christ. His name: Billy Graham. And it all started when a Sunday School teacher with little time to live, made the most of his time, and what he did has affected millions of lives.
No question about it – Edward Kimball was effective! Are we? We can answer that by the John 15:2-8 check list. What category are you in?
1. NO FRUIT (verses 2a & 6)
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. ... If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
This takes us immediately to 1 Corinthians 3:15 - If anyone’s work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
I remember calling a friend of mine who was told he was dying. I got permission to talk with him on Songtime Radio and to ask just one question. “What does a Christian who is dying think about?” He replied, “You ask how much hay wood and stubble is in your life. It isn’t what you do for God that counts, but rather what God does through you using the gifts He gave you at the moment of salvation.” John the author reminds us that it is possible to be ashamed at His coming (1 John 2:28). No fruit!
2. MORE FRUIT ( verse 2b)
“And every one that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bring forth MORE FRUIT.”
Of course you can think of fruit in a number of ways. Galatians 5:22 speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. Concentrate on this one. Romans 1:13 uses fruit as a result of Christian service. What are you doing to win people in your area to Christ? Acts 1:8 makes it clear it can be done and starts on your street.
“But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
3. MUCH FRUIT (verses 7-8) “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you. In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you shall be My disciples.”
Where do we get “My Words abide in you?” The answer is – the Bible. Let me summarize this with a quote from A.W. Pink and his commentary on the Gospel of John:
“There are four relationships which need to be distinguished.
Life in Christ is Salvation.
Life with Christ is Fellowship.
Life by Christ is Fruit Bearing.
Life for Christ is Service.”
Does in, with, by, and for help you with the check list for effectiveness? It did with Edward Kimball.