| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net In Jesus' time, when a leper walked down the street and was approaching other people in the crowd, he was required to cry out: "Unclean, unclean" in an effort to warn on comers as to what was, or was thought to be a communicable disease. "Hey Preacher. What about Kyle?" We'll get to him right now. The preacher put him on the spot. Isn't it a sign of weakness to give your life to The Lord? And wouldn't being the new kid on the block in prison be the last time and place you would want to show any weakness? Now the preacher had asked the dreaded question. All eyes were on him. There comes a time in every man/woman's life where we don't care anymore. Is it a weakness? Some call it a crutch, and a popular term for giving one's life to Christ is "surrender". Let's turn the Spiritual Switch. When we ask someone to "come forward", or to admit to God that they are a sinner (we all are), aren't we asking them to proclaim to everyone: "I'm unclean!"? On the other hand, Jesus says: "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". John 10:14 The Old Test says this person will "in no wise be put to shame". God is the "lifter of my head". Hmm? How can He lift my head if I'm too proud to bow it? In fact, "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased (humbled); and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Luke 14:11 The sacrifices that are acceptable to a Holy God are a "broken spirit and a contrite heart". What do you suppose that looks like? Somehow, miraculously Kyle understood this all in an instant, and in an unashamed manly voice stripped of all pride, he responded :"Yes I Would!" A simultaneous cheer from the balance of his peers rang out, and as we all stood with tears of joy, and holding hands in a circle, Kyle was ready to receive Christ as his Lord. But the moment was interrupted when Marshall, another newbie raised his hand and asked: "Can I ask Jesus to be my Lord too?" Now the water works burst as one at a time Kyle and then Marshall "prayed the prayer". There was no coaxing. There was no coaching as to the content. Just two full grown men recognizing their God given purpose and submitting to it. And now, from the pastor's heart. If a hundred children get saved, say second graders, three of them will lead their families to Christ. If a full grown woman gets saved, that jumps to 23%. But fasten your pewbelts. When a Man sells out for the Lord, I mean lock stock and barrel, ready to charge hell with a water pistol kind of saved, 90% of them will bring their families to a saving relationship with Christ. What I'm trying to say is --- Alleluia, What a Savior. |
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