Thursday, May 10, 2012

For the sake of the Christ


 I have come to the realization that if I go out and preach the gospel, sure people may get saved, but I also need to help train up these young men so that they might also go out and preach the gospel and that they might also go out and train even more young men to preach the gospel and so on and so forth. The war we face in America with apathy and ungodliness does not stop at our border. It goes out into all the other countries. There is a need for godliness and righteousness and holiness and a fear of the Lord wherever believers are at and that is where a revival begins. If someone wants to follow after Christ it is not going to be easy. If we are in a war we must always be on our guard, and ready to fight for the sake of the gospel no matter what. We sit back and we say well if I say I am a Christian at this job interview then I probably won’t get the job or if I sit back in this class and say nothing about my belief no one will know that I am a Christian and they won’t hate me then. We are to be hated, friends. We are to be despised and we should count it a great joy to be persecuted for the sake of Christ, because that means that we are doing something right. If there is no one who hates you for the sake of the gospel there is something drastically wrong with your walk with Christ. More than likely you look too much like the world to be known to be anything set apart from the World.  Maybe you do not proclaim the name of Christ because you are scared or afraid or just plain do not care.  Is it worth it to be silent as we wait for the coming of our Savior? Is it worth it to just give up and not fight for the gospel? Is there any soul in this world that does not have a right to the inheritance of our heavenly Father? Do we not care about what is going to happen to the people of this world?

 I come back again and again to a passage in Romans 10:12 -15 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!’” (NASB)

Friends, we have been sent, by Jesus Christ Himself do go and preach the gospel, to make disciples and to teach them to observe all that He commanded. We are to be training others up to go out and preach the gospel, but how can we train others up if we ourselves do not go out and preach it. We need to preach it with boldness and strength. The Lord is our strength, do we actually believe that the Lord will help us in this? If we do, we will go out and preach the gospel and rely on the Lord for the boldness and the strength we need.

There is an elderly man in Nigeria who said that he would continue to go out and do evangelism and preach the gospel until he could no longer move and he has been relying on the Lord for his strength. When he was younger, he became very sick for several years. During that time no one went out to preach the gospel or to do any evangelism. When he became well he said that he would continue to go out until he could no longer go. The Lord has allowed him to continue to go. He will take his walker with him and he will go to wherever they are doing evangelism that particular time and he will sit and pray the whole time they are out sharing the gospel. This man desires to see the Word of the Lord go out into Nigeria so much so that he himself will do whatever it takes to get people to go out. He, himself, would go out if he still could. This elderly man should be an example to all of us that it is not just those who are young that can go out and preach the gospel, but also those of all different ages, from young to old.There is a need, not only to preach the gospel , but also to pray for the people that are preaching it and for the hearts of the people who hear it.

You may continue to say that you do not want to go out and preach the gospel, that you want to stay in your little comfort zone with all of your believing friends around you. That you don’t have the gift of evangelism, so that is not how the Lord is going to use you. That is a lie that Satan has been telling Christians for years. 
We are to be willing to be used by God in whatever way He sees fit and we are to be willing to do things that are even out of our comfort zones. All of us are supposed to preach the gospel, by proclaiming Christ first, followed by our actions to show Christ’s love to others. If any of you feel that you have any excuse whatsoever you need to look into your life and your heart and see what is holding you back from giving Christ your all and telling others about Him. There is a great war out there and there is a greater need for believers to fight for the souls of men. Will you join with me in this battle or will you turn your back on those you are fighting with and retreat and give up the fight? It is your decision. Stop saying you’re a follower of Christ if your life does not reflect it and if you truly want to follow after Him then stand with Him and fight. Are you willing to follow after Him even to death?  That is a question you need to answer. Where is your loyalty? Is it in Christ or is it in the World? The two cannot mix. They must be separate from one another.