COULD THIS BE YOU? (Part Dos)

 

COULD THIS BE YOU?

(Are you tired of the talk?- PART DOS)

"I have taken a long look into eternity. Oh, if I could come back and preach again, how different I would preach from what I preached before"

-A preacher from this century on his deathbed

 

What do you think this man saw that would make him say that if he could come back again that he would preach differently? He obviously had a glimpse into heaven, hell or both to make such a bold statement on his deathbed. Think of it; of all the things he could have said, he chose these words. He was revealing a passionate desire for the lost; he had a desire to come back and preach biblically. But sadly, it was a little too late. What about us? Are we proliferating empty words, or are we truly spreading the Gospel message? Are we fulfilling the biblical mandate to GO AND PREACH THE GOOD NEWS TO EVERY CREATURE? (Mk. 16)?  Listen to what Billy Sunday said concerning our job of personal evangelism (spreading the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ):

Personal evangelism is very different form of work, more difficult than PREACHING, SINGING, ATTENDING CONFERENCES, GIVING GOODS TO FEED THE POOR. The devil will let you have an easy time [doing these types of things] until God asks you to do personal evangelism. ..If you want to play into the devils hands, begin to offer your excuses."

The greatest sign that Christ's return for His bride is near is that deception will fill the ranks of the church. He mentions this three times and all the other signs only once.

¹ Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

   
³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all^[a]these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,^[b] and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

We must be careful that we are not caught up in doing things our own way. The mission is not to fill churches. The mission is not simply to get more decisions or to fill our altars on Sunday mornings. Our purpose is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.  That's all. But if all we want is more decisions and not true converts in an attempt to fill our churches for OUR ego, then here is a list of very effective methods (This is taken from the DVD message "Where is the Passion" by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort):

• 1. Do not preach about sin, judgment or future punishment for sin.
• 2. Preach the love of God with promises of peace, love and happiness.
• 3. Appeal to the emotions rather than the conscience.
• 4. Gloss over sin by emphasizing that all have sinned, thereby erasing personal conviction.
• 5. Neglect using the law of God as a mirror to bring conviction of sin.
• 6. Use the old, "While every eye is closed and no one is looking around, just slip up your hand" shenanigan.
• 7. Have counselors gently pull hand raisers to the altar.
• 8. Sing [emotionally charged, teary eye] songs over and again until you get enough at the altar.
• 9. Use light dimmers.
• 10. Build your church building with the floor slanting toward the front.

These are non-biblical tactics of filling churches. I could even mention Bible schools where they actually teach the "art of altar calls." God has not called us to fill up altars. He has called us to PREACH THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST. If we are doing our job, there is a good chance that people will not have an opportunity to get to an altar. Some cannot even attend church. We can't wait until people come to church to hear the message of Jesus Christ-they may never get there for several reasons. We have to take it EVERYWHERE WE GO. It will be tough. It will be scary, and there will be rejection of the truth. But if we fall in love with Christ we will gain His heart in this matter. We must do something. God's heart is souls. If we have died with Christ and risen with Him then we should have His heart. If you want to spend five hours a week at the "School of Ministry", that is probably OK. But spend as much time speaking the truth to those who need it as you do the things that look good on resumes. If you want to write your loved one's name on a card, attach it to the refrigerator, and pray over it every day, that is probably OK. But spend as much time speaking to them about the Lord. Don't give more excuses, just do it. If they have rejected you, move on to someone else in the family. Reach out to the neighbor. Speak to the person who bags your groceries. Talk to the librarian. Preach to your seminary professor. Witness to the pastor (if he gets offended, just say your practicing-haha!) BUT GET OUT THERE IN THE FIGHT! I want to conclude this with what Paris Reidhead wrote about the ministry of John Wesley:

Wesley was a preacher of righteousness. He would exalt the holiness of God, the law of God, the justice of God, the wisdom of His requirements, and the justice of His wrath. Then he would turn to the sinners and tell them of the enormity of their crimes; their open rebellion, their treason, and their anarchy. The power of God would descend so mightily that it is widely reported, on one occasion, when the people dispersed, there were eighteen hundred people lying on the ground, completely unconscious because they had had a revelation of the holiness of God, and in the light of that, they had seen the enormity of their own sin.

Acts 4:31: ³¹And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage.

Prayer is good. They prayed. But then they went out and spoke the Word of God with boldness and courage. Do not stop with just prayer.

Plant---water---let God give the increase. Enlist.