Tag: Gospel

Thursday, 10/7/21 – Evangelism: ‘Ding dong,’ ‘Knock knock’…

Evangelism: ‘Ding dong,’ ‘Knock knock’…

She came regularly to our door, left her literature and departed. If we met her as she came and told her we wanted none of what she offered, still, no matter, in a few week’s time she would be back, leave her literature, then go. We grew amazed at the frequency of her visits, the glossy pages of her materials and the scope of her territory, for others too we learned were subjects of her persistence. Some, we found, had become great devotees to her cause, even though in time it had cost them greatly.

You might say she was a model evangelist! Her persistence was admirable; her zeal was undeniable. I thought… if only God’s people were as dedicated… as determined to spread the good news of the gospel as she was to spread the message she brought! Yes, she was a model ambassador… she… our area Avon representative.

In parable Jesus once said, “…the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” (Luke 16:8). Of the Prince of demons and tyrant of this earth He said, “… the devil… is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Rev. 12:12).

Now certainly there is nothing evil about Avon! I am merely contrasting the zeal with which the world pursues its temporal things against the seeming indifference with which the saints of God obey His command to love and to go into all the world as His ambassadors.

We too have but a short time left. Soon this curtain of life, this opportunity to serve, to trust, to live by Faith, to be brave for God, to even die for Him will pass. Death will be behind us… behind them… and all eternity will loom ahead of us… of them… fixed in bliss for some, in torments for others.

As a well-known refrain from a poem by British missionary C.T Stud expresses,

“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.” – C.T. Studd, Only One Life

Christ is standing at your door and knocking now. He will not run off. He will stay there until you either invite Him in, or die. Invite Him in today. If you already have, then do something for Him… something that will last… today!

Press on…

Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of life in Christ? Or, would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.

Thursday, 9/30/21 – Fellowship: Truth & Reconciliation

Fellowship: Truth & Reconciliation

Today has been designated a “National Day for Truth and Reconciliation,” a day to honour residential school survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process. Great wrongs were committed against our First Nation peoples. This truth must be faced, and wrongs must be confessed and corrected for reconciliation and true fellowship to be restored.

The Creation of Adam, Michaelangelo

The parallels between this reality and the much broader gospel of God are very clear: Great wrong is committed against our God and Father. Each one of us is guilty; our best efforts are all “as filthy rags” before Him. This truth must be faced, and our sin must be confessed and corrected for reconciliation and true fellowship with our Maker to be restored!  

What must we do? We must admit to the Truth that wrought our alienation, we have turned away from our God, we have each gone our own way, we have rejected and abused, and sought to put to death His Son. What is the Truth? Christ this Son is the Truth. Making peace with Him by Him, is our only path to Reconciliation with the Father, to Unity with the saints and household of God.

And God has appointed a day, a Global Day, a day of Truth and of Reconciliation. God has appointed a day, and that day is Today: “Today is the day of salvation…” (2 Cor. 6:2).

He invites you to call upon Him this day, to come to Him, that He may draw near to you. Then He calls upon you: He calls upon you to call upon others as Paul outlines,

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:18-21)

Then, reconciled with our God, we are in the best place from which to build reconciliation with others, with our First Nations people and all others.

Press on…

Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of life in Christ? Or, would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.

Thursday, 9/9/21 – Priorities: Is it really that simple?

Priorities: Is it really that simple?

John’s gospel records Christ stating an amazing thing. He says, “And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32). In the Greek here the phrase “lifted up” is the Word ὑψόω [hupsoō]. It means “to lift up on high, to exalt, to raise to dignity and honour.” This is what Christ asks the believer to do. The Word “draw” in the Greek has two forms, ἑλκύω or ἕλκω [helkuō or helkō]. It means “to draw, to draw by inward power, lead, or impel.” This is what Christ promises He will do.

When we meet with a person who is lost Jesus tells us that the cross is primary. The cross is the principal matter – the “crux” of all things — the priority of all evangelism . “If that person can get to God in any other way,” concludes Chalmers, “then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary.”

Sympathy, social aid, even love is not enough. The cross: Christ’s substitutionary death on our behalf. The cross: Each believer’s unashamed identification with Christ, His Lordship in one’s life and the demonstrated fruits of the Spirit. The cross: the challenge to likewise die to self and self-efforts, to turn from evils and live for God. This is all the cross, the principal thing which “lifts up” Christ.

This is all we can do, and a this is what we must do.

Paul affirmed,

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Rom. 1:16).

If a believer is ashamed – embarassed to be identified with the cross of Christ and the gospel that goes with it — it suggests he values the praise of men more than the praise of God.

“What the world needs is not ‘a little bit of love,’ but major surgery,” says Chambers. The cross is that surgery.

Of the written Word of God we read,

“For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12).

And Christ is that Word made flesh. As we exalt Him, He will do the necessary surgery.

By you words, life and purity “lift up” Christ on high, “exalt” Him in your worship, “raise His Name to dignity and honour” in your speech and conversation.

Do this and Christ will do all that remains. He will “draw by inward power,” by conviction of the Holy Spirit, He will “lead” by the truth of His Word, and “impel” by the need of the soul.

Yes! It is really that simple.

Press on…

Are you interested in being discipled one-on-one in the fundamentals of life in Christ? Or, would you like to begin this journey by turning from your current path and committing your path to Christ? — Use the Contact page and we’ll get you started.

Tuesday, 8/3/21 – Pressing on… Brilliant!

Brilliant!

But what, if after all that — all that we touched upon in yesterday’s post — what if after that great grace given us no one availed themselves of the fullness of that provision, plan, and possibility? That provision, plan, and possibility is this: “…God chose you …to be saved …that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 4:13-14). To share in the glory of Christ is not vanity in self, but magnification of Him.

Take for example the creation of the first light. In Genesis we read:

“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.” (Gen. 1:16-18).

Now the moon has no light in itself, no glory of its own, but the moon obeys fully the Creator’s provision, plan, and possibility for it. It stays in its orbit around this earth, near it, yet apart from it, and it receives and faithfully reflects upon this earth that light which it receives from the Sun, the only true source of light. In doing so it does not boast of any personal brilliance, but only of that brilliance which is the Sun’s.

The Creator’s provision, plan, and possibility for us is the same. “You are the light of the world,” said Jesus of His faithful. So, “…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” We shine to glorify our Father…. Our Maker… and Lord.

Paul wrote, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal. 6:14).But we cannot boast in… i.e. we cannot glorify… our Lord Jesus Christ unless we bow to the lowest of humilities… unless we “die to self” and “yield to Him”… to His provision, plan, and possibility – His purpose to show in us His Glory.

This is our purpose in this world now, not later in glory. Glory shines its own light… there is no night there (Rev. 21:25, 22:5). The moon cannot be seen in daytime because of the greater brilliance of the Sun. It was made for that time when it is night. Likewise we must exercise ourselves to reflect His Glory now, where it is dark. It is His provision, plan, and possibility for all who will receive Him.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4).
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” (2 Pet. 1:5-7).

More tomorrow…

To hear this past Sunday’s message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.

Wednesday, 7/28/21 – Pressing on… Giving the Gift to others…

Giving the Gift to others…

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” writes Paul (2 Cor. 4:7). This treasure… this Gift… about which we have been speaking thus far this week. The Gift is the Holy Spirit deposited within all who believe, the effect is salvation… eternal life with our Lord and in His Kingdom, and the means is the Gospel of God… the true message that God has not abandoned us to the consequences of our rebellion. He has not tossed us aside as we might toss an item marred on the assembly line. No. He has come to us, given Himself to be tossed aside instead, tormented, punished, destroyed. And of us He has not merely made repair, but He has given us a whole new being,

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20).

“God… has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” Paul prefaces. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels” – God has seen fit to entrust Eternal Spirit to temporal clay. Why? “…that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”  (2 Cor. 4:6-7).

To carry such a treasure into such a fallen world, this is the evident and fearful plan of God, your and my Creator,

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:15-16).

“…Who is sufficient for these things?” Or, as the NIV has it, “…Who is equal to such a task?” Who can rise to it? This is not a true question, for God Himself has evidently answered it, and His answer is you! Every believer in that instant of faith becomes also an evangel, a bearer of the undiminishable Truth. Within him resides not only the “Gift,” the “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (Eph. 1:14) but also the Gospel, “the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16)!

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” writes Paul. It is true of every believer. And God expects each one to share it with this dying world.

Press on…

To hear Pastor Andrew’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.