The
famous, Bible-fundamentalist preacher Charles Spurgeon once
said to lukewarm, passive Christians, who don't faithfully share the gospel
with others and don't have real passion to win souls for Jesus Christ:
"Have you NO WISH for others to BE SAVED? Then
you're NOT SAVED [BORN AGAIN] yourself, be sure of that!"
There is a big problem in the Christian church of
today; and the problem is that the teachings are focused mostly on one's
prosperity and comfort, instead of focusing on dying to one's reputation and
wellbeing, and becoming KINGDOM MINDED.
To be kingdom minded means that every believer and
disciple should have a strong, compelling desire to SPREAD the Good News of
salvation in Christ to every lost soul. This strong desire comes from a
thankful heart for being redeemed, and from a compassionate heart to help the
lost to find redemption too. In fact, many, many people today DIE DAILY without
knowing Jesus' free gift of SALVATION, and are bound to be condemned to suffer
eternal punishment after God's Judgement Day! (Read Revelation 20:11-15.)
The problem is that many believers today have come and
been baptised in Christ without really knowing and understanding the HIGH COST
of it, because of the prevalent easy-going, light gospel preached and lived in
mainstream Christianity today.
Jesus said that we should count the COST of FORSAKING
ALL, before we give our life to him: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate
his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his
OWN LIFE also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross
and come after Me cannot be My disciple...So likewise, whoever of you does not
FORSAKE ALL that he has [anything that blocks him from fulfilling the great
commission] cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26-33)
God's Word clearly says that if we say that we ABIDE
in Christ, we then must WALK as JESUS WALKED on Earth! Otherwise, we are not
really followers of Jesus and we live in deception. (Read 1John 2:3-6).
This is what Jesus was DOING every single day: “Then
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, TEACHING in their synagogues,
PREACHING the gospel of the Kingdom everywhere, and HEALING every sickness and
every disease among the people." (Matthew 9:35)
And this is what Jesus asked his DISCIPLES, after
seeing the BIG HARVEST of souls in front of him: "But when He saw the
multitudes, He was moved with COMPASSION for them, because they were weary and
scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The
HARVEST truly is plentiful, but the LABOURERS are so few. Therefore pray the
Lord of the harvest to SEND OUT many LABOURERS into His HARVEST.”” (Matthew
9:36-38)
In another occasion, Jesus said to his followers: “He
who BELIEVES in Me, the WORKS [of preaching God's Kingdom and healing the sick]
that I DO he WILL DO also; and greater WORKS [in number] than these he WILL DO,
because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12)
JESUS said that we don't need to worry about our DAILY
LIVING or needs, but just have the faith of a child to believe God's promises
for our daily supply, providing that we PUT GOD's KINGDOM and his Righteousness
FIRST every day! (Read Matthew 6:24-34 and Luke 12:13-34.)
The first disciples didn't receive the HOLY SPIRIT
just to speak in tongues or prophesy, or to keep it for themselves. The main
reason Jesus sent his Holy Spirit from heaven to his 120 faithful followers the
day of Pentecost, is so that they would receive GOD'S POWER upon them, in order
to have boldness and love and conviction to be a WITNESS and PREACH the GOSPEL
everywhere around! (Read Acts 1:8; chapter 2; 4:23-31; 6:7-8; 8:1-8.)
So God's main purpose to send us his HOLY SPIRIT is so
that we may also be a WITNESS and PREACH THE GOSPEL with real boldness and
power to the LOST SOULS, everywhere and at every opportunity!
Jesus warned us that "Not everyone who says to
Me, ‘LORD, LORD,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will
of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)
Jesus also made it very clear what is the PRICE for
becoming a real follower/disciple of him, saying that: “Whoever desires to come
after Me [be a disciple], let him deny himself [forsake his own reputation and
will], and take up his cross [suffer shame and hardship and persecution], and
follow Me [study my Word and obey my great commission of being a faithful
witness]. For whoever desires to save his life will LOSE it, but whoever loses
his life for FOLLOWING Me and PREACHING the gospel, will SAVE it.” (Mark
8:34-35)
So let's go on our knees and EXAMINE our heart, and
our lifestyle and faith in Jesus, to see if it's deep and real and based on
obedience to God's Word; or just shallow and apparent and based on just
following traditions of the current lukewarm church--like going to church on
Sundays to worship a bit and hear irrelevant sermons that just tickle people's
ears and rarely transform lives.
The apostle Paul said: "EXAMINE yourselves as to
whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that
Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified?" (2Corinthians
13:5)
"For the time will come when they will not endure
SOUND DOCTRINE, but according to their own desires, because they have itching
ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears
away from the truth, and be turned aside to FABLES.” (2Timothy 4:3-4)
We as believers must have it very clear that the GREAT
COMMISSION was given to EVERY born-again child of God and disciple of Jesus,
and not only to the ministerial body of the church. (Read Ephesians 4:11-16.)
So GET OUT of the comfort and be a faithful WITNESS
and PREACH the Gospel to the LOST! You can start meeting lost souls in your own
town, by going to the streets, or to McDonald's, or to a park, or to a shopping
centre, or from house to house, or to any other place God shows you!
And if you are a very busy person, then take every
opportunity to be a WITNESS when shopping, or on the bus that takes you to
work, or at your workplace, or when you take your kids to the playground. Where
there is a WILL, there is always a WAY! (Read Matthew 5:10-16; 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20; Luke
24:46-49.)
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