Challenge

I am challenging everyone to share Christ with at least one person by New Year’s Day 2009. The statistics are that 97% of Christians will never share Christ with one person before they die. Yet most of them will say their relationship with Christ is the most important thing in their life. How can this be?

Charles Spurgeon says, "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that." That may sound harsh, but it has really made me examine my relationship with Christ over the past year. If Christ was Lord of my life, why did I not care that people around me were going to spend eternity in hell.

Will you be fearful? Of course. Satan does not want you to share the gospel. If you don't know what to say, then get a good gospel tract to give to someone. Go to www.livingwaters.com to get more information or contact me and I will send you some material. Every day 150,000 people die, most without Christ.

Are we going to close our eyes or do something about? Can you imagine what could happen to this country if every Christian took Christ's last instruction seriously to go into all the world? Hold me accountable too - to see if I have shared my faith. I will be praying for you. Please pray for me as well.

Decisionism

The Scripture does not say that Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel and said that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, now who would like to ask me into their hearts? I see that hand.”

That is not what it says. He said, “Repent and believe the gospel.” Now men today are trusting in the fact that at least one time in their life they prayed a prayer and someone told them they were saved because they were sincere enough. And so in their salvation if you ask them, “Are you saved?” they do not say, “Yes, I am because I am looking unto Jesus and there is mighty evidence giving me assurance of being born again.” No. They say, “One time in my life I prayed a prayer.”

And they live like devils. But they prayed a prayer. And some of them... I heard of one evangelist who was coaxing a man to do that thing. Finally the man felt so uncomfortable the evangelist said, “Well, I’ll tell you what. I will pray to God for you and if it is what you want to say to God, squeeze my hands. Behold the power of God.”

Decisionism, the idolatry of decisionism. Men think they are going to heaven because they have judged the sincerity of their own decision.

Quoted from Paul Washer in his "Ten Indictments"

Why Do We Repent and Turn to Christ

Why should a sinner repent? Because God deserves the obedience and love that he’s refused to give Him! Not so that he’ll go to heaven. If the only reason he repents is so that he’ll go to heaven, it’s nothing but trying to make a deal or a bargain with God.

Why should a sinner give up all his sins? Why should he be challenged to do it? Why should he make restitution when he’s coming to Christ? Because God deserves the obedience that He demands!

I have talked with people that have no assurance that sins are forgiven. They want to feel safe, before they’re willing to commit themselves to Christ. But I believe that the only ones whom God actually witnesses by His Spirit and are born of Him, are the people, whether they say it or not, that come to Jesus Christ and say something like this, "Lord Jesus, I’m going to obey you, and love you, and serve you, and do what you want me to do, as long as I live, even if I go to Hell at the end of the road, simply because you are worthy to be loved, and obeyed and served, and I’m not trying to make a deal with you!"

From "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" by Paris Reidhead

To hear the audio of this sermon, click here.

True and False Conversions

The subject of false conversions is a frightening topic to me, but it also motivates me to examine my own life. It says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

If Jesus Christ lives in us, shouldn’t there be a huge change in our lives. Yet, poll after poll show basically no difference between those who call themselves Christians and the rest of the world. A.W. Tozer says, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.” D. James Kennedy said it this way, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest fear of contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”

When Jesus gave His disciples the Parable of the Sower, it seems that they lacked understanding of its meaning: “He said to them, ‘Do you not know [understand] this parable? and how then will you know [understand] all parables?’” (Mark 4:13). In other words, the Parable of the Sower is the key to unlocking the mysteries of all the other parables. If any message comes from the parable, it is the fact that when the gospel is preached, there are true and false conversions. This parable speaks of the thorny ground, the stony ground, and the good-soil hearers—the false and the genuine converts. Once that premise has been established, the light of perception begins to dawn on Jesus’ other parables about the kingdom of God. If one grasps the principle of the true and false being alongside each other, then the other parabolic teachings make sense: the Wheat and Tares (true and false), the Good Fish and Bad Fish (true and false), the Wise Virgins and the Foolish (true and false), and the Sheep and Goats (true and false). “The School of Biblical Evangelism”

Someday we will have to face God on the Day of Judgment to give account for our lives. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Jesus warned that many will say to Him on that day, “Lord, Lord”, but He will reply, “I know not from where you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.” Luke 13:27

This is not about works, but about true repentance, humbling ourselves before the Creator of this universe. If Christ’s sacrifice on the cross means so little to us, that we are unwilling to allow God to change our desires, then we must examine ourselves. I once heard it said that a true Christian may fall or stumble into sin, but an unbeliever dives into sin. We are not called to be sinless, but to take up our cross and follow him. Matthew 15:7-8 says, “You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

Ten Commandments

What is the purpose of God’s Law and why are atheists working so hard to remove the Ten Commandments from the public square? It is because God’s Law show our guilt before a holy and just God. Romans 3:19 says, “Now we know that whatsoever things the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.” So one function of God’s Law is to stop the mouth, to keep sinners from justifying themselves by saying, “There are plenty of people worse than me. I’m not a bad person, really.” No, the law stops the mouth of justification and leaves the whole world guilty before God.

Ray Comfort gives a good illustration in The School of Biblical Evangelism. “The Bible says in Psalm 19:7, “The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.” Scripture makes it very clear that it is the Law that actually converts the soul. To illustrate the function of God’s Law, let’s look for a moment at civil law. Imagine if I said to you, “I’ve got some good news for you: someone has just paid a $25,000 speeding fine on your behalf.” You’d probably react by saying, “What are you talking about? That’s not good news—it doesn’t make sense. I don’t have a $25,000 speeding fine.” My good news wouldn’t be good news to you; it would seem foolishness. But more than that, it would be offensive to you, because I’m insinuating you’ve broken the law when you don’t think you have.

However, if I put it this way, it may make more sense: “While you were out today, the law clocked you going 55 miles an hour through an area set aside for a blind children’s convention. There were ten clear warning signs stating that fifteen miles an hour was the maximum speed, but you went straight through at 55 miles an hour. What you did was extremely dangerous; there’s a $25,000 fine. The law was about to take its course, when someone you don’t even know stepped in and paid the fine for you. You are very fortunate.”

Can you see that telling you precisely what you’ve done wrong first actually enables the good news to make sense? If I don’t clearly bring understanding that you’ve violated the law, then the good news will seem foolishness and offensive. But once you understand that you’ve broken the law, then that good news will become good news indeed.

In the same way, if I approach an impenitent sinner and say, “Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins,” it will be foolishness and offensive to him. It will be foolishness because it won’t make sense. The Bible says that “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18). And it will be offensive because I’m insinuating he’s a sinner when he doesn’t think he is. As far as he’s concerned, there are a lot of people far worse than him. But if I take the time to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it may make more sense. If I open up the divine Law, the Ten Commandments, and show the sinner precisely what he’s done wrong —that he has offended God by violating His Law—then when he becomes “convinced of the law as a transgressor” (James 2:9), the good news of the fine being paid will not be foolishness. It will not be offensive. It will be “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). “

The Law doesn’t help us; it just leaves us helpless. It doesn’t justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a holy God. Galatians 3:24 says, “ Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” I Timothy 1:8-10 says, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but ... for sinners.”

Charles Spurgeon stated, “I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. The Law is the needle, and you cannot draw the silken thread of the gospel through a man’s heart unless you first send the needle of the Law to make way for it.”

Tracts

Do tracts really make a difference?

According to Charles Spurgeon: “ I well remember distributing them in a town in England where tracts had never been distributed before, and going from house to house, and telling in humble language the things of the kingdom of God. I might have done nothing, if I had not been encouraged by finding myself able to do something ...[Tracts are] adapted to those persons who have but little power and little ability, but nevertheless, wish to do something for Christ. They may not have the tongue of the eloquent, but they may have the hand of the diligent. They cannot stand and preach, but they can stand and distribute here and there these silent preachers...They may buy their thousand tracts, and these they can distribute broadcast.

I look upon the giving away of a religious tract as only the first step for action not to be compared with many another deed done for Christ; but were it not for the first step we might never reach to the second, but that first attained, we are encouraged to take another, and so at the last...There is a real service of Christ in the distribution of the gospel in its printed form, a service the result of which heaven alone shall disclose, and the judgment day alone discover. How many thousands have been carried to heaven instrumentally upon the wings of these tracts, none can tell.

I might say, if it were right to quote such a Scripture, “The leaves were for the healing of the nations”—verily they are so. Scattered where the whole tree could scarcely be carried, the very leaves have had a medicinal and a healing virtue in them and the real word of truth, the simple statement of a Savior crucified and of a sinner who shall be saved by simply trusting in the Savior, has been greatly blessed, and many thousand souls have been led into the kingdom of heaven by this simple means. Let each one of us, if we have done nothing for Christ, begin to do something now. The distribution of tracts is the first thing.”

According to the American Tract Society, “Fifty-three percent of all who come to Christ worldwide come through the use of printed gospel literature.” God used a tract to save the great missionary Hudson Taylor. After George Whitefield read one called “The Life of God in the Soul of a Man,” he said, “God showed me I must be born again or be damned.” He went on to pray, “Lord, if I am not a Christian, or if I am not a real one, for Jesus Christ’s sake show me what Christianity is, that I may not be damned at last!” Then his journal tells us “from that moment... did I know that I must become a new creature.”

John Wesley organized 160 tract distributors in 1757 which literally reformed the Lord's day habits of the entire city of London! Martin Luther wrote more than one tract, booklet or book for every working week of his entire life! D. L. Moody began his very fruitful evangelistic ministry in Chicago by the simple act of distributing tracts to Great Lakes seaman!

Why should Christians use tracts? Simply because God uses them. That fact alone should be enough incentive for a Christian to always use tracts to reach the lost, but there are even more reasons why we should use them. Here are a few:
Tracts can provide an opening for us to share our faith. We can watch people’s reaction as we give them a tract, and see if they are open to listening to spiritual things.
They can do the witnessing for us. If we are too timid to speak to others about the things of God, we can at least give them a tract, or leave one lying around so that someone will pick it up.
They speak to the individuals when they are ready; people don’t read it until they want to.
They can find their way into people’s homes when we can’t.
They don’t get into arguments; they just state their case.

Oswald J. Smith said, “The only way to carry out the Great Commission will be by the means of the printed page.” Charles Spurgeon stated, “When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready ...Get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. Therefore, do not go out without your tracts.”

If you want people to accept your literature, try to greet them before offering them a tract. If you can get them to respond to a warm “Good morning,” or “How are you doing?” that will almost always break the ice and they will take it. After the greeting, don’t ask, “Would you like this?” They will probably respond, “What is it?” Instead, say, “Did you get one of these?” That question has a twofold effect. You stir their curiosity and make them ask, “One of what?” That’s when you hand them a tract. It also makes them feel as though they are missing out on something. So they are.

Perhaps you almost pass out at the thought of passing out a tract. Don’t worry; you are not alone. We all battle fear. The answer to fear is found in the prayer closet. Ask God to give you a compassion that will swallow your fears. Meditate on the fate of the ungodly. Give hell some deep thought. Confront what it is that makes you fearful.

If you are a friend of mine and you are convicted to share the gospel after reading this, I am willing to provide you with as many tracts as you want at no cost to you. I also have books by Mark Cahill that you give out or read yourself. My only requirement is that you actually use them. Tracts are not a substitute for talking to people, but I have found that tracts have helped me become more bold in my faith.

Reference: The School of Biblical Evangelism by Ray Comfort

Shocking Message

Today I simply recommend that you listen to a message given by Paul Washer in 2002. It is based on Matthew 7:13-27 which says, “Enter through the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles. Then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who builds his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods came and winds blew and slammed against the house and it fell, and great was its fall.”

It is a very powerful message that every professing Christian needs to here. You can listen or watch it by here.