Putting the Gospel 'in the way' of sinners

As I read Spurgeon's Morning & Evening devotional this morning I was struck by what he said about putting the Gospel 'in the way' of sinners!

In today's evangelical world, we are told to make the Gospel 'attractive' or 'interesting' to people, and the thought that we might be guilty of 'pushing' the Gospel onto people or cajoling them against their will to consider the claims of the Gospel, namely that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, is not politically correct.

I might be wrong, but if my memory serves me correctly, I think the only people I have heard using terms such as 'shoving the Gospel down a person's throat' and phrases to that effect, have been other Christians.

Perhaps we like to tell ourselves that the average unsaved person feels this way when presented with the Gospel, and it gives us somewhat of an 'out' for not telling them. After all, we wouldn't want to 'put them off' now would we?

To get back to the devotional thought, he quoted judges 7:20, The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon and proceeded to tell us how important it is to firstly 'let our light shine' and secondly to 'blow the trumpet' of the Gospel. 'Take the gospel to them; carry it to their door; put it in their way; do not suffer them to escape; blow the trumpet right against their ears'.

Now of course, I'm not saying we should be obnoxious in our presentation of the Gospel, but I believe that what Spurgeon is getting at here is closer to what we should be doing. After we have laid a good foundation before sinners with a good testimony, then we need to sound the Gospel clearly and make sure they hear it.

Of course, many may be afraid to tell sinners the Gospel if their own testimony is not as bright as it should be.

Perhaps if we made sure that our walk was right, then people would be more careful to take heed to our talk also.

Let this be a challenge to me and to us all today, for there will come a day, when we will no longer have an opportunity to share this precious Gospel with the lost, for whom Christ died.

Who is Jesus?

A woman met Jesus in a place called Samaria as He was journeying towards Jerusalem.

In John chapter 4, we read this woman's opinion of who Jesus was:

In v.9 she acknowledges that He is a Jew;
In v.11 she recognizes that He should be respected and calls Him 'sir';
In v.19 she even goes as far as saying that she believes He is a 'prophet'.

However, she did not recognize that He was the Christ (Messiah) until He revealed that to her in v.26.

Many, likewise, today, by means of their own intellect and human understanding, will be quick to give respect to the person of the Lord Jesus, but ONLY revelation from God the Holy Spirit will enable them to see that He is the Messiah!

What about you, who do you say that He (Jesus) is?

True Repentance – Gen. 44 – January 22, 2009

Gen. 44v31 … it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

As Judah relays the story to Joseph about how they came to be back in Egypt, there is no sense in which he tries to excuse himself or his brothers, even though, in actuality, they were innocent this time. They admitted the sin that had been hanging over their heads for so long, kidnapping their brother and selling him into slavery, lying to their father about what happened to him etc.

When our sin is discovered, how do we react? Do we try to put the blame somewhere else, or do we admit that we are guilty and seek forgiveness from God?

Let’s remember that God, who sees everything, right down to the thoughts of our hearts, cannot be fooled. Why not confess your sin to Him today, and know the joy of pardon and forgiveness that comes through Christ’s blood, shed on the cross for this very purpose.

January 16, 2009 - Faith & Unbelief

Matt. 13:58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (NKJV)

A terrible indictment on the people of Nazareth, where the Lord Jesus grew up. The saying, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ would be apt to describe the attitude of those in this passage.

What about you and I. Could the Lord say this of us, ‘I could do no mighty work in his or her life because of their unbelief’?

Let’s be determined today not to be set aside from service or usefulness to our Master because of our unbelief.

January 11, 2009 – The Importance of Faith

Matt. 9

The Importance of Faith

v. 2 When Jesus saw their faith ...
v.18 While He spoke these things, to them, behold, a ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, 'My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.'
Perhaps this man didn't have faith to the same extent as the Centurion in Matt. 8, but nonetheless his faith was placed in the right Person, the Lord Jesus. The Centurion said, '... but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.' The father here said 'come and lay Your hand on her and she will live'. The key is not the amount of faith, but rather the Object of it.
v. 22 ... and when (Jesus) saw her, He said, 'Be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well.'
v.24 Conversely, the people here did not have faith in the Lord Jesus. When Jesus said that the girl was 'not dead, but sleeping.' ... they ridiculed Him. The only thing Jesus could do was to put them outside! This is what happens to unbelief ... it is put outside! And one day, when we meet Jesus in judgment, those who have not believed on Him will be put outside forever! Don't be like the foolish people in v.24, but rather like all the others who put their faith in Jesus.
v.29 'According to your faith let it be to you.'

Psalm 11:3

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (NKJV)

Do you ever wonder why there seems to be such a relentless attack on the Word of God and it's teachings? Ever ask yourself the question, 'why are evolutionists not content to simply believe what they believe and leave the Bible alone?' They always insist that 'science' (so called) and the Bible are mutually exclusive and yet they are always quick to dismiss it when the opportunity arises and to deride those who believe in its' authenticity and infalibility.

Do you wonder why the homosexual 'school bully' agenda is not content to have their distorted and twisted view of life, and leave the Bible alone. But, oh no, they have to make sure that everyone agrees with their point-of-view, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with them or gets in their way. If you don't agree with them, they will simply 'beat you up' with words and accusations and smears until you do!

When will we wake up to the fact of these things and speak the truth? We don't have to resort to the same tactics, but simply stand on the Word of God and the Lord will honour us for it. Let's be determined not to compromise the truth of God's Word just because it may be politically expedient to do so.

Let's remember that if the foundations be destroyed, we do not have a leg to stand on. The truth of the Word of God is our only sure foundation and the devil knows it!

January 9, 2009 – True Faith

Gen. 22  1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to   him, “Abraham!”And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and   go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of   the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two   of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the   burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (NKJV)

We see evidence here of Abraham's faith and his complete trust in the Lord.  Despite Abraham's failures, God still used him. Abraham proved that his desire was to serve the Lord and to put Him first.  God knows that we too are human, and prone to sin and failure. Yet, in a similar way, God will use us too, if we are available.  Am I available for God to use today?

Matthew 8

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading   with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should   come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9   For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to   this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to   my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed,   “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in   Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit   down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons   of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping   and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way;   and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was   healed that same hour.

This is an amazing account of a man with great faith or rather man with faith in a great Saviour! In fact, the testimony of the Lord Jesus was that He had 'not found such great faith, not even in   Israel'!  How is your faith today? For what will you trust God in your life today? What answers to prayer will you believe Him for?  Remember it's not what you or I say that counts, but what we believe and our actions as a result of that faith and trust in Almighty God. Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for   you'.  You see, the centurion could have been trying to impress Jesus and saying things he thought the Lord wanted to hear, but ultimately, his servant was healed not because of his words only, but because those words were based on a strong conviction that the Lord Jesus alone could heal his servant!  In Matt. 7 we read of the Pharisees who had little or no 'authority' to do the things Jesus did. Why was that? Because they didn't truly believe. Jesus authority came not only from the fact of who He was, but also from the fact that He Himself believed what He was teaching, and He acted upon it. The Pharisees however, were merely repeating things that they knew in their head, but the truth of which had never reached their heart.  What about you and I today? Is our faith only in our heads, or has it permeated every part of our being so that people look at us and notice that   we too speak with 'authority' and not just words.  That is the challenge, will you take it? Who knows what God will do in you   and through you as a result.

January 8, 2009

Gen 18

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. (NKJV)

God had promised Abraham that He would give him a son and through that son all the nations on earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3).

Why did God wait until Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 90? (Gen. 17:17) Could He not have made this same promise when Abraham was younger, after all, in every way it would have made more sense? No, and a thousand times no! There may have been a multitude of reasons why God did not make the promise to Abraham earlier in his life. It is likely that he wasn't ready, that he needed to learn to trust God more. Whatever the reason, we can be sure that timing is everything in God's book. He wanted Abraham and Sarah to realize that, in the natural order of things, this promise could never be fulfilled. The only way that Abraham and Sarah could physically have this son of promise, was by a miracle - no other explanation would suffice.

And so it is with us too, we wonder why God tarries and seems not to hear or answer a certain prayer, something close to our hearts. Like Abraham, we need to reach the point where we acknowledge His sovereignty in our lives and recognize that unless He answers our prayers, our cause is hopeless.

v.14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? The answer is a resounding, NO! Have I reached the point where I recognized that not just some things, or most things, but NO THING is too hard for Him?

Sodom and Gomorrah

20 And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

There are those who believe that God is austere and that because He must judge sin, that He is not compassionate. God could easily have seen from heaven and judged these wicked cities, and yet, He takes time to 'go down ... and see'.

We too, would be judged immediately and swiftly for our sin if it were not for God's grace.

Let us remember that God would rather pardon sin than punish it. He waits, long-suffering, that prodigal children everywhere would return to Him.

The very existence of our planet, despite the sin and corruption everywhere, is testimony to the fact that God is NOT willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:8)

Gen. 19

1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

Here we find Lot, Abraham's nephew, trying to live somewhere in the middle between heaven and hell, light and darkness.

We can learn much from Lot, about the consequences of bad decisions and the folly of trying to love the Lord and love the world at the same time.

Lot knew of the true and living God, and yet He was living in Sodom. Not only was he living there, but he had prominence there.

His position was precarious.

Living in Sodom had taken it's toll on Lot. Even though he likely tried to be a good example to his family, his decision to move there all those years earlier, had consequences.

When he tried to warn his family members, they were unconvinced (v.14) when he spoke to them about judgment.

We need to realize that people are watching us all the time. If we live by double-standards, they will quickly see through us. The lesson is, we can only have one master, so let's live for the Lord while we still have time.

An elder in a church I used to attend remarked that he saw a trend among professing Christians as follows: If one can imagine a line drawn between worldliness and godliness. It seems as though Christians, rather than looking at that line and seeing how far away from it they could go, would instead, see how close they could go. To see how close they could be to the world, but at the same time, seeking not to stray over the line.

How foolish to imagine that we could do such a thing. Is this my attitude to living everyday? Do I seek to walk closely to the world, but at the same time deceiving myself into thinking that I'm following the Lord?

Let's determine, by His grace, to keep as far away from the world's standards, ideals and philosophies as possible, so that we may actually be of some use to our Master who sees us and cannot be fooled by our hypocrisy.