While I was attending Bible College, I worked with a girl in a
job on Campus who had an insecurity problem. I will call her Brenda. Every time
a man asked her out for a date, she would agree to go, but then would not show
up for the date or would postpone it. Understanding what this was centered in, I
said to her one day during work, Lets go to lunch. I have something I want to
talk to You about. While we ate, I said to Brenda,
Brenda, if you have never been hurt, then you have never loved anyone.
You cannot love someone truly without the possibility of getting hurt.
Mothers and fathers are painfully aware of this reality. As they raise their
children, many times in order to truly love that child results in their being
hurt by that child. Especially is this true during the teenage years.
How does this relate to Christianity? The Bible tells us about God's love for
us in Romans 5:6-10,
"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the
good man someone would dare even to die. But God DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much
more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the
wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life."
When did Jesus die for our sins? Was it when we decided to repent and turn to
Him? No. Paul tells us in this passage in Romans that it was while we were
living in sin. It was while we were enemies that Jesus died on the cross to
save us from our sins.
What did it cost Jesus to save us from our sins? It cost Him His very life.
It cost him more than that. Jesus was practically beaten to death before he was
put on the cross. God did not give us a costless redemption. If he had, we never
would have received it or given it any attention. What is it that caused us to
take note of the salvation that God bought for us through His Son Jesus Christ?
It is the very fact that God humbled Himself by taking on finite humanity with
all of its limitations and did not draw upon his divinity while a man and
allowed us to beat Him and nail Him to a cross, a cross his sinless nature did
not deserve. The CROSS is what manifests to us God's real love for
us. We say to ourselves, God really loves me! He died on the cross for me!
How does the cross demonstrate God's love for us? What does it tell us about
God's love? It tells us that even though God is a just God, pouring out his
wrath upon man is the last thing on his mind. God does not want to send anyone
to hell. God does not want to judge anybody. So violently apposed to this is God
that he became a human being and allowed us to take violence upon him to reveal
how much He loves and wants to have relationship with us. He did this so we
would repent and turn back to Him so He could bless us and so that He would not
have to send us to hell. Jesus does not desire to send anyone to hell. How do we
know this? We know this because He allowed us to totally abuse Him to the point
of death and He tells us that all we have to do to be saved is believe that that
is Him, the Son of God, dying for us on that cross. Jesus said in,
John 3:14-15
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son-of-Man be lifted up; that whoever believes in Him may have eternal-life."
Jesus’
very death on the cross is what humbles us and causes us to melt in repentance
and gratitude at the foot of the cross.
I have been in many major cities of this country and talked with Pastors
about Evangelism. When I do they tell me how they and other pastors meet
regularly to pray for revival in their communities, but very few of them tell me
about how they are out going door to door sharing the love of Jesus Christ with
unsaved humanity. Why? They want revival in their cities and America, but they
want a costless revival. They do not want to pay or sacrifice anything for that
revival.
What is the problem with America today? Why is America rejecting the
Christian principles our forefathers gave their lives to defend? Because they do
not see any Christians in this country willing to cross the street for what they
believe let alone dying for what they believe. They do not see that
Christians really believe that there is a Heaven more real than the temporary
pleasures of this earth and as a result sacrificing all that they have on this
earth to have Heaven. They see Christians in America just as selfish and
materialistic and self grabbing and serving as they themselves are.
Matthew 13:44-46
"The kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a
man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has,
and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking
fine pearls, and upon finding
one pearl of great value, he went and sold
all that he had, and bought it."
Why is America rejecting Christianity and God? Because there is no such thing
as a
Safe & Costless
Christianity. They do
not see Christians willing to give up anything for the kingdom of God. Why
aren't people turning to Jesus in this country? Why? Because Christians are
doing everything but going out and aggressively sharing the love of Jesus Christ
with others.
The first century Church literally turned the Roman empire upside down from a
pagan society to a government declaring Christianity the only recognized
religion in society. What brought this about? It was the fact that Christians so
believed in what they professed that they were willing to lose all that they had
including their lives to hold on to that confession. The Apostle John wrote in
Revelation 12:11,
"And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because
of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to
death."
Brothers and sisters, Pastors and friends, do you want to reach America
and bring it back to God? You are not going to do it without it costing you
something. You are not going to do it unless you are willing to lose
something. You are not going to do it unless you give up this life. You are not
going to do it unless You pay for it. It is going to cost you something. How do
I know? Because I have been regularly, weekly sharing my faith aggressively with
men for forty years and continuing to do so has
cost me dearly. Jesus said,
Matthew 10:32-36 "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him
before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will
also deny him before My Father who is in Heaven. Do not think that I came to
bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came
to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the
members of his household."
Once while working in a grocery store I was eating my lunch. I had an hour
and saw a man sitting by himself doing nothing. I saw it as an opportunity to
share Jesus with him. When I looked up I saw to my left my manager and a
supervisor talking. The Lord said to me, Do not fear them. I got up and
went over and shared Jesus with this employee via an
SalvationTract.
Before I was through he bowed his head and accepted Jesus as his Savior and
Lord. An hour later my boss called me to his office and fired me for bringing
Christianity into the work place.
John 15:18-20 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not
of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to
you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."
Many times I have lost jobs because of my Christian witness. At times this
has led to my being so broke that I ended up homeless. The bible teaches that a
person who truly walks with Jesus will have no where to lay his head.
Matthew 8:19-20 "And a certain scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You
wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes Have holes, and the birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’"
Do You want to see America reached with the Gospel and turned around? It is
not going to happen until America sees that you believe in Your Christian Faith
so strongly that you are willing to give up everything this life stands for to
share the love of Jesus Christ with others. I know, because being faithful to
consistently share my faith with others has so far cost me everything a person
can lose in this life except my life itself and I pray daily to Jesus for His
grace to be ready to die for Him if He calls me to do it. But though I have lost
all there is to lose in this life, and even now I live on the minimum of
sustenance, yet I have had the joy of seeing many come to a saving knowledge of
who Jesus is.
Do You think I am sharing a foreign Christianity? Study the life and ministry
of Paul in the book of Acts. Paul’s reaching the Gentile world was not without
cost and hardship. Eventually it cost him his life. Whenever Paul would go into
a new town he had a group of Jews who followed him just to hassle him. They
would tell the people lies about Paul and turn the town against him. Many times
Paul was whipped and stoned and thrown into jail. I have had the joy of being
imprisoned once for my Lord. It was anything but a negative experience. Paul
Writes about his ministry and travels,
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 "I... in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without
number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews
thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three
times I was ship wrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have
been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers
from my countrymen, dangers from the gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in
the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I have been in
labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often
without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is
the daily pressure upon me of concern for the Churches."
Does Paul say that he regrets his experiences in the Lord? No. What does he
say? He writes in Philippians 3:7-11,
"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for
the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the
surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,
and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the
Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes
from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His
Resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Paul did not run from suffering and loss for his faith, he COVETED it.
He wanted to experience all that Jesus experienced in His humanity for us so
that he might be completely one with Jesus. Secondly, Paul recognized that it
was through his imprisonment and sufferings that others not only came to Jesus,
but that other Christians were motivated to go out and preach the Gospel without
fear. He writes in Colossians 1:24 and Philippians 1:12-14,
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share
on behalf of His body (which is the Church) in filling up that which is lacking
in Christ's afflictions."
"Now I want you to know, brethren that my circumstances have turned out
for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the
cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and
to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the
Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word
of God without fear."
Only when the brethren saw Paul putting the importance of the Gospel above
his very life did they then find the courage, through Paul’s example, to go out
and preach the Gospel without fear, even if it meant losing all that they had.
One of the primary seeds in Paul's life that prepared him to receive Christ
was his witnessing the stoning of Stephen for his faith in Jesus which Paul
sanctioned (Acts 7:54-60). When the jailer in Acts 16:22-34 saw Paul and Silas's
faith as a result of their suffering and imprisonment, he was saved and his
whole household.
Why was Paul willing to lose everything including his life for the cause of
the Gospel? Because Paul was a true believer. He really believed that this life
was temporary and would pass away but that Heaven is forever and never passes
away and proved it by investing in the future life, not in the present life. I
believe this is why God gave Paul so much space in the
New Testament that we
have today. I believe God wanted us to see and learn from Paul's example of his
faith and walk with God and imitate it. While in prison, Paul wrote the Church
about his life and examplein Philippians 4:9 "The things you have learned and received and heard
and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you."
Do You know what most Christians say to America today through their selfish
self-centered life-styles? This is what they say: America, this life is all
there is. There is no after life, so you better invest in this life now.
That is exactly what most Christians in this country do. They are not willing to
walk across the street let alone give their lives for the cause of the Gospel.
They say to America in essence, We really don't have any faith at all,
and America responds accordingly.
America does not see Christians who really believe in what they profess. The
only way that America will turn to Jesus is when they see American Christians
not only professing that they believe that Heaven is more real than earth, but
when they see Christians proving in life-style this confession by investing
everything that they have into the Gospel and by losing if necessary everything
that they have for the Gospel. Only then will America come to know that Heaven
is more real than earth and therefore a better investment then in this temporary
life. They are not going to believe and turn to Jesus until they see that we
really do believe in our life-styles and actions as well as word. As the old
phrase goes, I hear what you do, I do not hear what you say.
If this life is the most important thing to you, then are you really a
follower of Jesus? Do you really believe? Brothers and sisters, forgive me if
you think my words are strong. When I started the
Basic Textbook for the
fifth time, the one thing the Lord said to me was to not hold anything back. He
said to me that this is not a time to be soft. The lines are being drawn, evil
is rapidly taking control of our world and that the opportunity to share our
faith freely is coming to an end. Jesus said in John 9:4, "We must work the
works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can
work." Yehovah said through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 48:10, "Cursed is he who does Yehovah’s work negligently
( hYmr,
carlessly, inattentively), and cursed is he who restrains his
sword from blood." We say we believe that Jesus is coming soon. If you really
believe that, this is not a time to be squeamish or soft. It is a time to get
aggressive and serious about the Gospel and sharing it with lost humanity
because Jesus’ return for them will be their damnation.
My message is not a popular message among Christians in America. This is
because Christians in America don't want to sacrifice anything to bring another
person to Jesus. They want to live a costless Christianity. This is not possible
if we want to bring others to Jesus. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said,
Luke 18:8 "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on the earth?"
When Jesus comes back, will he find a Church in America
putting their trust in Him for their present needs and investing in the Kingdom
of God? Or will he find a Church with no faith in the life to come at all and
instead investing and putting their trust in a bankrupt world system?
Brothers and sisters, there is no such thing as a safe and costless
Christianity. In order to truly walk with Jesus and consistently share Jesus
with others, it is going to cost you something, everything in many cases.
Brothers and sisters, if we are to turn America around, it is not going to
happened without it costing You and I something. Sharing the love of Jesus
Christ with another human being is the most loving thing you can do for another
human being; but if it has not cost you something you have not loved
anyone. If you have never been hurt, you have never loved anybody. You cannot
love without it costing you something and eventually being hurt in the process.
Brothers and sisters, I implore You in the name of Jesus Christ, give your
lives and your time and your resources to the sharing of the Gospel with others.
Let me tell you how I live my life in Jesus: I work 16 hours a day.
When I come home at night, with my wife, I have a Quiet Time in the Word with Jesus. I then
spend a half hour in prayer. I next study the Bible in Hebrew & Greek (I am a
Bible Translator),
Christology and Apologetics. I then eat. For the next three hours I work on the
Translation of the Bible. I go to bed and get up and spend a
half hour in prayer seeking the Father to draw me close to Him with my wife
while one of us practices presenting alternately one of our
three field
tracts (Prov 3:5-6), to make us one
with Him, for Him to reveal his heart, mind and emotions to us. It was during
this time one morning the Father told me to write the content of this Chapter. I
then spend another half hour studying Christian apologetics for the defense of
the Gospel. I then go to work. Friday nights I relax and play, but on the
weekends I spend my mornings again studying and writing on the Gospel, answering
e-mails, and my
afternoons with my wife doing door to door evangelism, on the streets, in the
malls malls, and any where else we can find a warm body sitting still long
enough to listen to what we have to say about Jesus. I come home and work some more on
my Christian projects and translation work. I eat dinner with my wife, have a
Quite Time
with her with Jesus, study, write and go to bed. Sunday Morning I give the
sermon to our
Church and in the afternoon I
take members of my congregation with me door to door to share the Gospel. I relax the
rest of Sunday, My wife and I have a Quiet Time with Jesus, relax and go to bed and
then I start my
weekly routine all over again. I have been doing this for forty years come this
November (2009). Jesus said,
Matthew 6:19-21 "DO NOT lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for
yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also."
You see brothers and sisters,
I do believe that Heaven is more real than
this earth and that there is a hell and
and that men without Jesus go to hell forever. As a result my wife and I
use every free moment we have and every resource we have to bring men and women
the saving message of Jesus Christ. We do this because we believe that there is an eternal hell
and that men & women without Jesus will go to hell forever. The Apostle Paul wrote in
2
Thessalonians 1:9,
"And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."
Hell is just as real and eternal as Heaven. Hell is more real than this earth
is because this current earth will pass away. Hell is forever. Men on this earth without
Jesus will spend eternity in the eternal lake of fire where the worm does
not die and the fire is not quenched.
Brothers and Sisters, Heaven is more real and a million times more
glorious and more fulfilling than anything this life has to offer. How do I know
this is true? Because Jesus came back from the dead to prove to us it is true.
When you get to Heaven you can then have your expensive vacations, Porsches,
beautiful mansions, etcetera; but right now, Jesus needs you to invest in Heaven
by giving your life, time and resources to the preaching of the Gospel to men.
Until you do, America will not turn back to God, but will instead continue on
its pagan path and eventually will take the steps, as they are starting to do
now, to completely eradicate Christians
from America in order to live with themselves and their selfish
self-centered pagan life-styles. How do I know? Because They are already doing
it in the job market. You can get involved in the battle now or suffer later
without reward.
Jesus tells us that if we do not get involved in this battle of the souls of
men we will be overcome by the battle. Jesus said, "Any kingdom divided against
itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls." (Luke 11:17).
We will be overcome by the things of this life, by the security of jobs, by the
worries and the riches of this life. To stay involved in the battle you must
stay involved in the battle. Only those who stay involved in the battle
will keep their priorities of life straight and stay involved in the battle.
This is what Jesus was talking about when He said you cannot serve God and man.
You cannot have one foot in the world and be true to Jesus at the same time.
Either Your allegiance is to Him or it is not. There is no middle ground in the
economy of God's kingdom.
What happens to Christians and Churches whose main focus is not Evangelism?
They focus instead on non-fruitful doctrines and sit around convincing
themselves and each other that they are better than those guys over at the other
Church because they believe this doctrine or that doctrine (Nausea and Barf!).
What happens to Christians and Churches whose focus is Evangelism? Their
concerns and priorities become, Jesus, please show me how to help this man
and woman see that you are the answer to their needs. Jesus, please show
me what your Word teaches on this subject that is blocking this man and woman
from releasing their faith in You. Instead of your focus being some issue or
doctrine to convince other Christians you are better than them, instead your
focus is Jesus, what can I do or say that will release this person's faith in
You so he or she will give her life to You?
The Apostle Paul wrote about His life,
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order
that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord
Jesus, to testify solemnly of the Gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 20:24).
Love is a decision of the will, not a feeling. Jesus did not say, Oh boy!
I get to go to the cross and suffer and die for people who want nothing to do
with Me! Jesus made a decision of his will against his feelings to obey His
Father and suffer and die for us. He did this because He knew it was the only
way to bring us back to Himself and deliver us from an eternal hell. The writer
of Hebrews tells us about this act of love Jesus did for us, "Who for the joy
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2).
While preparing to go to the cross, Luke wrote concerning Jesus in the Gospel
of Luke 22:41-44,
"And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began
to pray, saying, "Father if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet
not My will, but Your will be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared
to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very
fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the
ground."
Does this sound like Jesus was over joyed at the prospect of suffering and
dying for us on the cross? No. Like any normal human being, his flesh and soul
abhorred the prospect. But in obedience to the Father, Jesus went. He went
because He was acting out of love, not feelings, for your and my salvation. The
writer of Hebrews tells us,
"In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with
loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard
because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the
things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those
who obey Him the source of eternal salvation." (Heb 5:7-9)
What does the Bible say about living for ourselves and focusing on ourselves.
The Apostle Paul writes,
"Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according
to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now
tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end
is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame,
who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in Heaven, from
which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Phil 3:17-20)
This earth is not our destiny. HEAVEN is! When you get to
Heaven, then you can have your Porsch, houses, jewelry, vacations around the
universe. But right now Jesus needs your help desperately to reach men and women
with the saving message of the Gospel so that their eternity can also be Heaven
instead of the eternal lake of fire.
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was a Jew before he became a Christian, who suffered
as a Jew in prison during the second world war. After reading the New Testament
and being strangely drawn to Christ, Pastor Wurmbrand said to Jesus, You'll
never have me for a disciple, I want money, travel, pleasure. I have suffered
enough. Yours is the way of the Cross, and even if it is the way of truth as
well, I won't follow it. Jesus’ answer came back to him in the form of a
plea: Come my way! Do not fear the Cross! You will find that it is the
greatest of joys.11/13 He did decide to give his life to Jesus
and follow him and eventually spent another fourteen years in imprisonment under
communist rule because he refused to reject Jesus and his walk with him.
Through the years Pastor Wurmbrand and his wife, Sabina, have been a support
and encouragement to me through their books and monthly news letter titled,
The Voice of the Martyrs.12 His books helped me to realize
that my life was a picnic compared to the suffering and losses these people
endured.
In 1972 I went with a Christian singing group to Hawaii to suffer for Jesus (LOL!) and to preach the Gospel. We were there for thirty-one days. During the
first two weeks it seemed to my friend Gene Wilson and I that many in our group
were too easily distracted by the sights and activities of Hawaii. Thus our
reason for being in Hawaii, to preach the Gospel, seemed to be blunted by these
distractions. This concerned my Friend Gene and I. As a result, one night Gene
and I got together and really poured out our heart to God in prayer asking Him
to do something to awaken our group spiritually and bring us back to the place
of complete commitment and focus for our reason for being in Hawaii which was to
preach the Gospel and bring the lost to Jesus.
One morning, soon after we prayed, I got on an elevator after eating
breakfast to come back to my hotel room. As I got on, an elderly lady got on
with me. I had my Bible with me because we had such a busy schedule that the
only time I could find time for a quiet time was while I was eating breakfast at
the restaurant. As we were going up, the elderly lady looked at me and asked me
what the book was I had in my hand. I told her it was a Bible. Her response was,
Oh! A Christian! Please! Come up to my room!
At that point I did not know if I wanted to go up to her room, but it struck
me that she looked familiar. I told her my name was Dale Kruse. She replied
back, My name is Mrs Richard Wurmbrand. I could not believe my ears! She
and Richard were passing through Hawaii on their way to the Philippines and had
just happened to stay in the same Hotel we were in. I had the morning off and
she and her husband were on their way to Marine Land. She asked me if I had ever
met her husband. I said no but that I had been supporting their ministry for
several years. She then asked me to come along.
I then knew that the answer for our group was Pastor Wurmbrand himself. I
asked him if he would come and speak to our group. He said he would. After he
shared some of his experiences in communist prisons for his Christian faith the
group was obviously moved and became sober. It took the suffering of a Christian
brother to wake them up to what was and was not important and what their focus
should be while we were their. From that day on everyone in the group was
completely unified and committed in prayer and activity for one purpose: to
bring men and woman to a saving knowledge of their Savior and Lord which cost
them nothing more than walking across the street and asking anyone permission to
share their faith with them.
When Communist Russia was handed Rumania by Churchill and Truman, Wurmbrand
tells the following story in his book In God's Underground,
"In 1945 a Congress of Cults was called in the Rumanian Parliament building,
with 4,000 representatives of the clergy filling the seats. Bishops, Priests,
Pastors, Rabbis, Mullahs applauded as it was announced that Comrade Stalin
(whose vast picture hung on the wall) was patron of the congress—they preferred
not to remember that he was at the same time president of the World Atheist's
Organization. The trembling old Patriarch Nicodim blessed the assembly and the
Prime Minister, Groza, opened it. He told us that he was a priest's son himself,
and his lavish promises of support, echoed by other personages who followed him,
were appreciatively cheered.
"One of the chief Orthodox bishops said in reply that in the past many
poitical rivulets had entered the great river of his Church—green, blue,
tri-colored—and he welcomed the prospect that a red one should join it, too. One
leader after another, Calvinist, Lutheran, the Chief Rabbi, rose in turn to
speak. All expressed willingness to co-operate with the Communists. My wife,
beside me, could bear no more. She said, ‘Go and wash this shame from the face
of Christ!’
"‘If I do, you'll lose your husband,’ I replied.
"‘I don't need a coward. Go and do it!’ Sabina said."11/13
Richard Wurmbrand did defend the cause of Christ before this congress and as
a result Sabina did lose her husband. He ended up spending fourteen years in
prison before she got him back, three of those years in solitary confinement.
She herself eventually ended up in prison for her faith also.
Their Son, Mia, ended up an orphan wondering the streets because he could not
get an education nor a job because his parents were committed Christians and
would not support the communist regime. They were considered common criminals in
society. One day her son came to visit her. A guard stood between them and
continually interrupted their conversation making intelligent conversation
impossible. Sabina finally cried out to her Son,
"Serve Jesus and put him first above all else!"
Mia responded back,
"Mother, if you and Father can serve Jesus under these conditions, then I
will to."11/23-24
That was the day Mia gave his life to Jesus. He has been serving him ever
since and is now a full time Pastor. Only when their son saw that his
parents were willing to give up everything for Jesus was he then compelled also
to give his life to Jesus.
How unlike American Christian parents. Many times when I talk to them about
getting involved in Evangelism their response is that their ministry is
their children to give them a good home. They cannot risk losing that, their
jobs, because then how would they support and take care of their children?
I agree that taking care of their children is their responsibility, but not
to the compromise of truth and their relationship with God. The question
American Parents need to ask is do they want to leave their children with
beautiful things, property and homes that are temporary and that will pass away
and be burned with fire along with the earth in the end? Or would they rather by
their self sacrifice and example of living totally for Jesus with all their
hearts and everything they have say to their children,
Children, Jesus and Heaven are more real than this temporary earth and
therefore should be invested in with all that you have and your very life rather
than this temporary life which will pass away.
They may not come to Jesus while under your roof, but later when they become
miserable when they find that the world does not satisfy with all of its things,
they will remember how happy and fulfilled you were with nothing and realize
that Heaven really is more real than this temporary earth. When they do, they
will give their lives to Jesus and invest all that they have in the kingdom of
God for an eternal reward that will not pass away.
Would you like to know what turned me around and brought me to a place of
living totally for Jesus with all that I have spiritually, soulishly, physically
and materially? It was a phrase given to me by a Catholic Nun when I was in
Junior high that never left me until I gave my heart to Jesus when I was a
Junior in High School. The phrase was:
ONLY ONE LIFE,
IT WILL SOON BE PAST,
ONLY WHAT IS DONE
FOR CHRIST WILL LAST
Brothers and Sisters, this is not a day to be soft or passive
about the Gospel or preaching the Gospel. Jesus has not given the trumpet call
of victory and that the battle is over. The battle rages stronger and more
blatantly than ever before and unless you and I get involved in the battle, we
will be overcome by the battle. There is no middle ground! A passive decision
today is a decision against the cause of Jesus and his Kingdom. You are either
with him and the battle of the souls of men or you are blatantly against him.
Jesus said,
Matthew 16:24-27 "For whoever wishes to save his soul shall lose it; but
whoever loses his soul for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be
profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man
give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory
of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to
his deeds."
Jesus plainly tells us that if we make this life our focus,
we will lose our souls. But he also plainly tells us that the one who gives up
this life and his soul in this life, that that is the person who will gain his
soul forever. There is no such thing as a Safe & Costless
Christianity. Jesus said you are either for and with Him or you are for
and against him. There is no middle ground. Jesus said,
Revelation 3:15-19 "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I
would that you were cold or boiling-hot. So because you are lukewarm, and
neither boiling-hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’
and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and
naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become
rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of
your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you
may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and
repent."
Does this sound like a mamsey pamsey costless Jesus? No.
Jesus said He would rather you be boiling-hot or cold for him. This is not a day
to be luke warm. This is a day to get boiling-hot for Jesus. Unbelieving man has
become very hot for his cause. Wake up Christians in America and smell the
coffee! Jesus Is Coming Sooner Than You Think! People are going to Hell because
they do not know Jesus and they do not know Jesus because we are not out
aggressively preaching the Gospel to men.
Isaiah 5:13-14 "Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of
knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their
multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol [hell] has
enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; and Jerusalem’s
splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry, and the jubilant within her,
descend into it."
KEEP A HEART
FOR THE BATTLE!
Go through our Basic
Evangelism Training Program and learn how to lovingly share the Gospel with men.
Then after you finish the training program, make a decision to not only get involved in Evangelism regularly
and weekly, but permanently. Make a decision to not only get involved in the
battle of the souls of men, but make a decision to stay involved in the battle
of the souls of men and keep a heart for the battle no matter how tough the
battle gets. When needed, take rests, a vacation, but even when you decide to do
that, decide when you will get back involved in the battle and then determine
and purpose that you will and acknowledge the Lord in that decision.
How does one stay involved in the battle? You stay involved in the battle by
making a decision when and how often during the week you are going to go out and
share the love of Jesus with men and then deciding that you will not allow
anything, anyone or any loss keep you from spending that time sharing the love
of Jesus with men. That is how you get involved in the battle and stay involved
in the battle.
Stay Jesus’ disciple and invest your life and time in His Kingdom. If you do,
when you get to heaven, Jesus will more than compensate you for your losses here
and bless you and reward you one-hundred times more than anything you could gain
on this earth by living for yourself. It is true. We know it is true because
Jesus came back from the dead to prove to you and I that it is really true. When
Jesus comes back, will He find faith in you? He will if you make a decision
daily to be involved in the battle and stay involved in the battle.
Suggested Further Reading:
Recommended Further Reading:
The Cost Of Discipleship,
by Deitrick
Bonhoffer
Through The Fire Without Burning,
by
Dumitru Duduman
Giants of the Missionary Trail,
by Eugene Harrison
He Came To Set The Captives Free,
by
Rebecca Brown, MD
With And Without Christ,
by Sadhu Sundar Singh
The Light and the Glory,
by Peter
Marshall
The Final Quest,
by Rick Joyner
Next: The
Fruits of Apostacy
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