Published by admin on 10 Jun 2011 at 03:35 pm
BE MY WITNESSES
As Christians, we often wonder, What is our job? What does God want us to do? Well, I can tell you what it ISN’T: it isn’t for us to be silent about what the Lord Jesus has done for us. Yet most Christians tend to keep their faith to themselves, and they aren’t very vocal about God.
We sure have no problem hearing from the very vocal “gay rights” people, who are pushing their perverted agenda upon societies worldwide and our children especially. They are not in the least bashful about their position. They want to have legalized and seen as acceptable, and even PREFERRED, those practices that God absolutely calls “abominable”. Keep in mind, I’m not judging them in the least. God already has. He told us in the Holy Bible what acceptable behavior is, and what is not. And if Christians were even HALF as vocal about the teachings of the Holy Bible as they are, we wouldn’t be facing the degeneration of the moral fiber of society not only in America, but other countries as well. When righteous men and women fail to stand for what is right, perversion takes over. We saw it in the Bible in the past, and we see it in our society today. Now, God was not passive about those who practiced abomination back in the Old Testament times, nor is He today, and you can read about what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis Chapter 19. And we also know, what God has done in the past, He may do again. That alone should be motivation to preach the Gospel.
Christians are to be witnesses to the world that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance, and He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Let’s look at Ezekiel 33:7-19:
Eze 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
Eze 33:8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Eze 33:9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Eze 33:10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Eze 33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
Eze 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Eze 33:14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
Eze 33:15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Eze 33:16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
Eze 33:17 Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
Eze 33:18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
Eze 33:19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
How can we logically expect the wicked to turn from their ways if there are none teaching them God’s ways? Tragically, most Christians feel it is “someone else’s” job, to do so. Well, I gladly accept my part of responsibility to do so, but what about you? Are you part of the problem, or part of the solution? Ouch! Those are stout words, Brother Jerry. Yes, they are, because I’m concerned for lost souls, not what is “politically correct”.
One of the last things the Lord Jesus told His disciples before He ascended to heaven was, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. What is a witness, but someone who testifies of someone or something? Do we love the lost and unsaved enough to get off of our little duff and tell people about the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Or is it easier to look the other way, thinking “someone else will tell them about Jesus”, while gradually perversion takes over and destroys all we love? Do you think it won’t happen? You’ve been sleeping too long!!
While we put off PERSONALLY being witnesses for Christ Jesus, thousands are dying without salvation every day, and yes, we CAN do something about it! Shame on us if we don’t at least preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those we meet! If they receive Jesus, good: but if not, we have at least offered them the opportunity to hear the Gospel and done our job, and we have delivered our own souls. Do you know most who call themselves “Christians” have NEVER won a soul to Christ Jesus? No, that isn’t a typographical error. I MEAN MOST!!
What did the Lord Jesus charge His disciples with? Let me quote Matthew 10:8: Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. What a witness for the Gospel of Christ Jesus when we do what He instructed! Imagine this sick healed, the lepers cleansed, THE DEAD RAISED, devils cast out. The power of the Risen Christ will be manifested only if we are witnesses for Him. Do you want to see the Power of God at work? Preach the Gospel! Now, I’m not talking about that old, weak, watered-down stuff, politically correct we hear in most churches nowadays, I’m talking about preaching the Word as it is written, not interjecting our “interpretation” of what we think it says or means.
God made the promises in the Bible, and rest assured, God will back them up, for it is impossible for God to lie. However, He isn’t obligated to back up YOUR version of the Gospel. When we look at what happened in the Book of Acts, we see the Word of God worked, when the workman worked the Word. They preached what Jesus preached, and the Word of God brought forth miracle after miracle, and that in turn brought forth salvation after salvation, because the people saw the Gospel has POWER! That built their faith to receive Christ Jesus, to become His disciples, and then to go out themselves and become His witnesses.
We cannot expect to see tens of thousands of people won to Christ by a powerless Gospel. People need the real deal, and if God’s own people can’t deliver the goods, the lost will look elsewhere. And the devil will be right there to show them what he has to offer. And what the devil has to offer them will lead to their death and destruction, only he isn’t telling them so. No, he wants that to be their surprise ending. So, again I ask: Do you want to see the Power of God working? Then do as Jesus said, BE MY WITNESSES!