We Must Give Them Jesus
I'll get to the important word 'genuine' in just a moment, because that is actually what I'm writing about now, but I love the way that a young Billy Graham put it as I watched an old video of him a few years ago, concerning the gospel. "If God had to send His precious Son to a cross to die for your sins and mine, then you can take it to the bank- you're not getting to heaven by any other means than that cross!"
So powerful, yet so simple- or is it? Well, it was certainly meant to be, but I ask you- when was the last time you heard the simple gospel preached in the power of the Holy Spirit? When lost people hear preachers of today, do they understand that they are in fact eternally lost and without any hope at all, save for the cross of Christ? Do they hear that without Christ's resurrection, there is no hope of eternal life?
I am very, very concerned that those without Christ and yet searching for the truth, are sometimes hearing a weak, cheap counterfeit 'version' of God's Word. I've dealt w ith this in previous writings, but I have yet another concern- even when we hear the preaching of God's Word, it so often seems to have become more of an intellectual treatise than the impartation of life by the Holy Spirit. You can know Jesus like you know George Washington, in a historical sense- and many seem to know Him about as intimately. That kind of knowledge will not save anybody- it's simply a recollection of words and facts. Let me repeat the question, "When was the last time you heard the simple gospel, the GENUINE gospel preached in the power of the Holy Spirit?"
It is a life-changing experience, and once you've known it, you could never go back to the lifeless, 'textbook' stuff that so many preach today. To those who preach the Word on a regular basis, I plead with you- We've got to give them Jesus! We've got to give lost people the Bread of Life- as He is, not as we would have Him. Are we so dependent on the Holy Spirit that w e pray before preaching, "God, please, please be here! Please get ME out of the way, so that they may hear YOUR words, not mine! That they would receive from YOUR Spirit, not my clever ideas or my excellent exposition of Your Word- God, please! That is what God wants to hear, and He WILL answer that prayer with great delight! Are we giving them Jesus? They are eternally lost without Him. Real preparation begins on our knees, long before we ever open a book. Look to Him, lean on Him, and He will go with you as you share Him with others!
God bless you with His Presence!
En Agape,
pastor Jim
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