You have been weighed in the scales and found wanting. Even though these words will never be spoken to them, these are the words that the lost fear that they will hear. One of the things that the believer must always strive to remember when speaking to the lost is that they do not think like we do, not even close. My intentions here are to speak to the mature believer, not necessarily one who still has one foot in the world, or perhaps those who are still too frightened to give their lives in totality to Christ. These are they that will say the words of Scripture, but not always do them, (James 1:22) they will agree wholeheartedly with the mature Christian but will not act upon those beliefs that they themselves profess.
If you have determined to seek the lost for the glory of God, then one of the very first things that you must determine to do is seek the will of God, and know of His desire that all should come to repentance. The second is much more difficult though and can bring great thoughts of sorrow that you must be prepared to bear, and it is this. Nearly everyone that you have ever met, almost all that you have seen on your television screen, around this entire planet, the vast majority of human beings have and are going to die in their sins and spend eternity apart from our Savior. They are going to hell.
“Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat: because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14) Few my friends, not many, not most, few. If it was not true, our Lord Jesus Christ would not have said it. Any of you that have spent time witnessing to the lost will attest to the fact that the percentages are very low indeed of those who heed the call when it is given to them. Granted, we do not know if these will repent and turn to Christ sometime in their future, and it is not our need to know, it is our responsibility to speak to them, but the truth is still there, few.
We must be honest with ourselves here, do you see billions of people on this planet glorifying Christ on a daily basis, do you see a world full of people whose one main purpose in life is to lift up the name of Jesus, does almost everyone you meet profess His Name as glorious, are your television screens, newspapers and social media pages filled with those glorifying God, or are you able to see the truth, a world corrupted and enveloped in sin and rebellion, some who say they believe in God, but do not tremble at His name. (James 2:19) Do you think that there are billions of Christians out there who just keep their lamps hidden, that all that rebellion and sin is caused by Satan forcing people to do his will, that in their heart all people are good? Few there be that find it.
The man of God has set his face like a flint, he is not concerned with what will happen to him, but only with what he is to do. His free will is conformed to the will of God, he is not embarrassed, ashamed or diverted from the tasks that the Lord has placed before him. His tasks are simple, glorify God, lift up the name of Jesus, follow the commandments of God, love his neighbor, carry his brothers and sister’s burdens with them, and seek the lost.
As I stated in the beginning of this letter to you, the lost do not think as we do, in fact, it is impossible for them to. (2nd Cor. 4:3) They do not and cannot comprehend any part of their lives, the lives of those around them, or the world itself in a spiritual manner, this ability is granted only to those who know Christ as Savior. A very large portion of Christians in the world today seem to be concerned only with their walk with the Lord, their benevolence has become imaginary, real only in their minds. If the lost are spoken to at all about their faith, it is usually in the context of inviting them to church, not a personal sacrifice of their time to tell them about the Savior.
It is a tough battle to speak to the lost, they can’t understand spiritual matters, our preaching is foolishness to them, (1st Cor. 1:21) their minds are not only blinded by Satan, but by their own free will, pride has deceived them into believing that works are the path to the kingdom of heaven, not grace through faith, (Eph. 2:8) hence the scales, “I did more good than bad.” Those who will not yet reach out to the lost do not understand that the perfect love that casts out all fear, (1st John 4:18) is the love of Christ for them, not us for Him. They will repeat the words that we can do all things through Christ, (Phil. 4:13) until the moment arrives to actually perform those things. The church has become comfortable only within the confines of the congregation, and individualized service to Christ outside of the walls of the church building has become almost non-existent. It is sad today that so many think that to be a warrior for Christ means to simply have a conversation with the lost about Him.
Just how much of the Scriptures do you think you need to know or have memorized before you decide to speak with them, or have you passed this responsibility onto your pastor or others within the church. Are you just plain outright too embarrassed for yourself to talk to them about the One you say you obediently serve? Honestly ask yourself this question how many souls do you believe you have led to Christ, thirty, sixty, one hundred? (Matt. 13:8)
The one main prayer that I have said for my wonderful wife over the last two years is that her heart would reflect the heart of Christ, and the change has been dramatic. There is a love inside of her for Christ that could only have come from Christ, and it is being spilled over to those that she meets. Perhaps this is a prayer you should seek for yourself.
We as Christians tend to pray, occasionally, for those lost souls that we meet, which is our rightful duty, but are your prayers backed up by words. Our examples in our lives must of course be part of our ministry, we are not to be of the world, it is not our home, but few will die for a good man, and even fewer will follow your example. It is the Word of God that brings a man to repentance, not the examples of God. How are the lost to be brought to Christ by following your examples only, if you believe this, do you have quite a lot of them following you? The Words of Christ bring a man to the cross, and it is up to us by the power of the Holy Spirit to be the ones telling them these words, what that man does when he gets to the cross is, as it always has been, up to him, in this we have no hand.
You must always remember that they are the blind being led by the blind, that their ears have been dulled by a life lived in and for the world. They will have a much easier time hearing the words of God coming from your lips than seeing your examples only. This is the way that the Lord our God has chosen for us to reach the lost world, by our examples and the Word of God, the same way that he reached out for you, by the foolishness of preaching.
It is time to admit to yourself why you are not taking every opportunity, no matter how seemingly insignificant, to speak to the lost that you meet about your Lord, and then imagine yourself trying to explain these excuses of why you didn’t to Christ when you stand before Him. Is your faith a feeling or a fact, and if it is a fact, why are you not being obedient in this area. As you have heard me say before, there are no rewards in heaven for good intentions, only for those things that were done solely for the glory of God. You do realize that we have brothers and sisters in Christ around the planet who are actually dying everyday for their testimonies, don’t you, they are being killed for their words, Christ’s words, and many times it is because they are speaking to someone about Christ.
Please, don’t be embarrassed anymore, please stop hiding in the church, stop hiding your lamp, the lost need to know about our Savior, they are not out there looking for Him, they are all lost. Stop hiding in the sheepfold, go out and search for them, ask our Lord to lead you to them and prepare their hearts to meet Him, the shepherd will go with you, there is nothing to fear.
