Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas

Sermon Illustrations

Joseph Ton was pastor of Second Baptist Church, Oradea, Rumania, until he was exiled by the Rumanian government in 1981. In Pastoral Renewal, he writes of his experience:

"Years ago I ran away from my country to study theology at Oxford. In 1972, when I was ready to go back to Rumania, I discussed my plans with some fellow students. They pointed out that I might be arrested at the border. One student asked, ’Jospeh, what chances do you have of successfully implementing your plans?’"

He asked God about it, and God brought to mind Matthew 10:16 -- "I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves" -- and seemed to say, "Tell me, what chance does a sheep surrounded by wolves have of surviving five minutes, let alone of converting the wolves? Joseph, that’s how I send you: totally defenseless and without a reasonable hope of success. If you are willing to go like that, go. If you are not willing to be in that position, don’t go."

Ton writes: "After our return, as I preached uninhibitedly, harassment and arrests came. One day during interrogation an officer threatened to kill me. Then I said, ’Sir, your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying. Sir, you know my sermons are all over the country on tapes now. If you kill me, I will be sprinkling them with my blood. Whoever listens to them after that will say, "I’d better listen. This man sealed it with his blood." They will speak ten times louder...

Continue reading this sermon illustration (Free with PRO)

Related Sermon Illustrations

  • I Heard Someone Give An Illustration Once About A ...

    Contributed by Clark Tanner on Sep 9, 2004
    based on 2 ratings
     | 28,526 views

    I heard someone give an illustration once about a wooden well bucket he came upon. He thought it was useless at first, because it had been sitting next to a barn in the sun, unused for a long time. He could see daylight between the wooden slats of the bucket. Certainly, this thing would never ...read more

  • Max Lucado Tells A Story In A Book Called "It's ...  PRO

    Contributed by Jeff Simms on Aug 2, 2004
    based on 7 ratings
     | 9,168 views

    Max Lucado tells a story in a book called “It’s Not About Me” about a friend of his who had cancer. Some well intentioned Christians had told him ‘If you have faith, then you will be healed”. But, no healing came, only a crisis in faith in that man’s life. Max suggested another answer to him, ...read more

  • A Man Has A Dream, He Dies And Goes To Hell!  PRO

    Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Mar 28, 2003
    based on 57 ratings
     | 6,217 views

    A MAN HAS A DREAM, HE DIES AND GOES TO HELL! While in hell the man notices there are many tables and starving people are sitting all around the great tables. There is hot food of all taste on the table. In Hell, they are starving with food tortuuring them right before their eyes. While all this ...read more

  • Titanic Story – The Titanic Was Slated To Be The ...

    Contributed by Chad Garrison on Dec 23, 2006
    based on 1 rating
     | 6,615 views

    Titanic Story – The Titanic was slated to be the best ship ever built. It as hailed as “indestructible”, but when it hit an iceberg on it’s maiden voyage, it sank. It has since been discovered that it was not the size of the iceberg that sank the ship, but rather that it was rushed to completion ...read more

  • The Dog Gone Story!  PRO

    Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Mar 28, 2003
    based on 40 ratings
     | 4,760 views

    THE DOG GONE STORY! Many years ago before airplanes and the great jets of today, people had to travel by ships. These great ocean going vessels were very slow sailing across long distances. The King of Greece made the decision to travel to the USA. The King had heard of the vast land and how ...read more

Related Sermons