Obeying Jesus ~ by Kevin Cross

Obeying Jesus

by Kevin Cross

IDT Mid-America

Do you get nervous when sharing your faith in Jesus?  Me, too.  But, for the past six years, I have used the following biblical method of sharing the gospel and it has been very effective!

It can be scary to stand up for Jesus and lovingly share with someone how to have eternal life in Him.  But, Jesus has commissioned His followers to do it (Matthew 28:18-20).  We have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).  It is our duty to fulfill our mission on earth and worship our triune Creator by obeying His Son.  Since we’re going to obey Jesus by telling people about Him, we want to be as effective as possible, right?

Although biblical evangelism is very direct, I have found most people appreciate having an honest, caring, non-judgmental conversation about their eternity.  Nearly every time I speak with someone, our conversation ends with a handshake and a “Thank you”.

So, here we go---

(1) Pray – We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Pray before, during and after

                 any endeavor if you want to be effective in glorifying the Lord.

(2) Go –    Leave your church property.  Very few people who are enemies of God (Colossians

                 1:21) will enter what they see as God’s house or go where they think He will be.

                 These folks are simply acting according to their sinful, un-born again natures and they

                  must be converted or they will suffer eternal punishment.  We must go to them!  

                 Think about this.  If a house near your church was burning, would you stay on your

                  church property and wave at the house in the hope that your neighbor will see you,

                  think you are friendly and come join you at your church to escape the fire?  That’s

                  ridiculous!  The loving thing would be to run to the house, share the bad news of the

                  fire with your neighbor and encourage them to flee to safety.

  

                   Failure to go is disobedient and ineffective even if we follow the rest of these steps.

(3) Smile – Be friendly and personable.  It’s more fun and it quickly disarms people in our

                   deteriorating and de-personalizing culture.  Sufficient relationship to share the gospel

                   with someone can be built in only a moment with a friendly greeting.  We do not

                   need to, nor can we, earn the right to share the gospel.  Jesus has commissioned us to

                   do it!

(4) Break the ice – Offer the person a good gospel tract (one that includes the words “sin”,

                             “holy”, “righteousness”, “hell” and “repent” (Acts 17:30-31, James 1:15, Luke

                              13:2-5).  Ask the person, “Did you get one of these?”  If they ask what it is, be

                              truthful and tell them it’s a gospel tract.  They will appreciate your honesty

                              and will either accept or reject it.

                              Two advantages of using tracts are that they go home and preach to the person

                            when he/she is ready and the person can read the message again and again.

                            If handing a tract to someone is too difficult, don’t be ashamed.  Leave good

                            gospel tracts where people will find them.  The Holy Spirit can use them to

                            convict people of sin and cause them to be born again (John 3:5-7, John 16:8).

                            An alternative to using tracts is to ask if there are any good churches in the

                            area.  You will know by the person’s response if they are open to discussing

                            spiritual things.  If not, wish them a good day and move on to someone else.

  

(5) God’s Law – The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) along with portions of Jesus’ Sermon on

                            The Mount (Matthew 5:21-22 and 5:27-28) show our Creator’s perfect, holy,

                            righteous nature.  Anything of imperfect nature cannot survive being in His

                            presence.  Therefore, sinful people must be made perfect by God.  The Holy

                            Spirit uses God’s Law to convict the person of sin and show them their need for

                            the Savior (Romans 7:7).  They must be given the righteousness of the Lord 

                            Jesus Christ by faith in Him in order to escape God’s wrath for their trans-

                            gressions of His Law (1 John 3:4).

           Ask the person if you can ask them a few questions.  Most will say yes because you are

                  asking them to talk about their favorite subject – themselves.

           Ask if the person believes they are a good person or good enough to go to heaven.

           Ask if they have kept the Ten Commandments. Most will say they try. 

           Ask if they have ever lied. (Commandment 9)

           Ask if they have ever stolen anything. (Commandment 8)

           Ask if they have ever used God’s name in vain. (Commandment 3)

           Ask about other Commandments in the same way, if you wish, to show them their guilt.

     Most people will be very candid if you ask these questions in a friendly, non-judgmental

     manner.  Tell them they can judge themselves.  Remember, dear reader, you are guilty, too.

     I know you are not a good person because the Bible says so in Romans 3:12.  This verse tells

     you that I’m not good either.

     If the person turns the questions back on you, simply admit the truth.  Guilty people want

     others to be guilty with them, but that does not remove their guilt when they stand alone

     before God in judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

(6) Analysis – You are not analyzing the person.  You are gently giving them an opportunity to

                        analyze themselves.

     Ask if they would be innocent or guilty if God judged them by the Ten Commandments.

     Anyone who is humble and honest will answer guilty.

     Once they answer guilty, ask if they would end up in heaven or hell.  If they answer

     “heaven”, go back to the Law and help them see their guilt.  If they say “hell”, ask if

     they are concerned about that.  Give them a moment to think about their possible

     eternity in hell.  You may feel uncomfortable at this point, but you are doing the

     person a great favor by helping them think about the everlasting punishment that may

     be in their future.  Don’t be afraid to make them sweat. This is the Holy Spirit’s

     opportunity to convict them of their sin.  It’s much better to hang over hell in our

     imagination than it is to go there forever.

     When they tell you they would likely end up in hell, tell the person you care about

     them and would hate for that to happen to them.  If you didn’t care for them, you

     would not be sharing the truth with them, right?  This small statement of caring is

     very powerful in our “it’s all about me” society and it gives the person another

     moment to consider eternity.

(7) Gospel – Once the person’s mouth is stopped (Romans 3:19-20), which means they are not

                    defending themselves and thereby demonstrating self-righteousness, it is time for the

                    Good News which is the “…power of God unto salvation to everyone who

                    believes… “ (Romans 1:16).  When the person understands that they rightly deserve

                    eternity in hell for their sins against God, share with them that Jesus took their

                    punishment for them on the cross and rose again on the third day so that if we repent

                    (turn from and forsake our sins) and trust in His sacrifice and resurrection, He will

                    give us eternal life (Acts 20:21, Hebrews 6:1).  Share with them that salvation from

                    sin is by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9,

                   John 14:6).

Keep in mind that it is almost impossible to overstate the importance of repentance.  Jesus told people to repent from early in His earthly ministry (Matthew 4:17) through His post-resurrection letters dictated to John for the seven churches in Revelation.  Telling people they must repent may sound harsh, but it is the most loving thing we can do.  God has declared that they should repent (Acts 17:30-31) and unless they repent, they will perish. (Luke 13:1-5). 

Don’t fall into the trap of counting “your” converts.  The Holy Spirit will tell the person if they have been made new creations in Christ (1 John 5:10).  Our duty is to simply share the message we have been given and urge people to repent and trust the Savior.  We cannot determine whether someone has been saved until they bear good fruit (Matthew 7:17).  Share the gospel and let the Lord keep score.

You will be surprised how directly you can speak with people about the possibility of their eternal punishment in hell if you speak with a loving, concerned voice.  This is not a mousey voice, but a firm, caring voice of someone who believes hell exists.  Don’t be afraid to say to someone, for example, “But you said that you have lied.  The Bible says that all liars will go to the lake of fire.  Doesn’t that concern you?  I would hate for that to happen.” (Revelation 21:8).

Be sure to take the opportunity to encourage the person to whom you are witnessing to read their Bible.  Give them a Bible or a Gospel of John if you can.  Invite them to your Bible-teaching church or a Bible study.  People are best discipled in a local fellowship of believers.

Don’t judge effectiveness by how many people “make decisions for Christ”.  That is not the Biblical objective and we don’t have that information because we do not have access to the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).  The Biblical goal is to worship and glorify Jesus by obeying Him and lovingly sharing God’s plan of salvation with those who do not yet know Him (Matthew 10:37-39).  We are to be God’s “ambassadors for Christ”(2 Corinthians 5:20).  We can be very effective at being obedient and glorifying God even if no one turns to Christ to be saved.  We only fail when we don’t go to share the gospel.

A couple of key verses to remember as you share your faith are:

2 Timothy 2:24-26 – And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, 

                                  able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who

                                  are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the

                                  knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from

                                  the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Proverbs 15:1 –         A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Helpful websites:

www.livingwaters.com

www.goodpersontest.com

www.needGod.com

If you have questions, comments or disagreements with anything in this post, please send your concerns to me, Kevin Cross, at idtmidamerica@gmail.com  I would love to hear from you!

Unnoticed Gnostics...Bible Study #1

Greetings friends and readers! 

I would like to introduce you to Steve McGlade, a brother in the Lord and student of the Word of God.  Our brother Steve has written several Bible studies and we are looking forward to sharing them with you!  Here is the first of many...

God bless you,

Pastor Rance

The early church was infiltrated by certain people who were called gnostics. Their name comes from the Greek “gnosis" which means to know.  The infiltration is clearly spoken of by Jude, whose little one chapter book is an exposure of the gnosticism of that time.  Without quoting all of Jude, I will pick out some interesting statements.

"For certain men have crept in unnoticed ". Jude v 4

Notice here, these people were in the Christian congregations but they often went unnoticed.  As we know, the early Christians would have agape feasts where they would get together for a shared meal and Christian fellowship Jude also says -

"These are spots in your love (agape) feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves".  Jude v.12

  

They are described as comfortably joining with us in intimate fellowship.

"They are clouds without water."  Jude v. 12

As we know water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the Lord said that rivers of living water would flow from the belly of the true believer, yet these are described as having no water.  John 7 v. 38.  Jude also goes on to say that -

"These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit ".  Jude v.19.  Jude then describes them as people who "have not the Spirit ".  The Scripture is clear -

"Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His".  Romans 8 v. 9.

There were two main types of gnostic heresy in those days. Both groups believed that matter was intrinsically evil.  The docetic gnostics denied our Lord's humanity.  The word " docetic is from a Greek word which means " to seem ". They argued that Christ never had a real physical body, he only "seemed” to have one.  This is the heresy that John immediately begins to address in his first epistle.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life." John 1 v. 1.

Notice here how John is emphasizing the humanity of Christ.  That...which we have HEARD.  Which we HAVE SEEN with our eyes.  Which we have LOOKED UPON.  And our HANDS HAVE HANDLED.  Even the word "handled" here is very informative, it is a word that is not used very often in the New Testament. It means to handle deliberately with a view to investigate. The word in Greek is “psailafao", it's root is “psallo , from where we get the word psalm.  It is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament when Isaac who was blind, handled Jacob's hands with a view to investigate whether or not the person before him was Esau, because his voice sounded like Jacob's voice.

"So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he FELT him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”  Genesis 27 v. 22.

This same word is used in Luke 24 v 39, where Jesus bids his frightened disciples -

"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: HANDLE me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have".  Luke 24 v. 39.

Jesus wanted His disciples to handle him so as to investigate that he was not a spirit, but rather he himself risen bodily from the dead.

Again when Paul was preaching to the people on Mars hill in Athens, he used the same word when he said -

"That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might FEEL after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us ".  Acts 17 v. 27.

As stated earlier, the root of this word is "psallo" from whence comes the word “psalm ".  The relationship between the two words is clear when we consider some of Strong's definitions of psallo -

a) to touch or strike the chord, to twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate. 

b) to play on a stringed instrument, to play, the harp, etc. 

c) to sing to the music of the harp. 

d) in the NT to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song.

And when someone touches and handles a musical instrument, they must do it carefully in order to get the right sound.  It is as if they are investigating the instrument to see how to achieve the quality of sound that they desire.

Number 2.

Getting back to the first epistle of John , he explains to us one of the reasons why he wrote his first epistle.

" These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you ".

1 John 2 v 26.

As we have already seen , the deceivers in the early days of the church were known as gnostics.

Also we noticed that they believed that matter was inherently evil and that the body of our Lord only appeared to be material.

This helps us to understand certain remarks that John makes in chapter 4 -

" Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world ".

1 John 4 v 2-3.

Years ago when I would read these verses I would find them a bit difficult , because all of the cults that I had come into contact with did confess that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh.

These cults believe that Jesus Christ was born as a flesh and blood baby in Bethlehem.

It was only when I came to understand about the gnostic threat to the early church that I was able to understand these statements in their first context.

John also says -

" Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

1 John 2 v 18 - 19.

Notice here that John speaks of these people going out " FROM US " instead of " CONTINUING WITH US ".

Many people that are born again often backslide and leave church. They are not the ones that are spoken of here.

These statements recall to mind similar statements uttered by Peter in his second epistle -

" For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit, and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

2 Peter 2 v 20 - 22.

I have often wondered if Peter is speaking here of gnostics. It is known that they confessed Christ , although not according to the true Gospel. 

Yet somehow their testimony of Christ enabled them to infiltrate the true church.

I remember once reading a collection of early 
Christian writings and there alongside people like Athanasius and Polycarp was Valentinus , a significant second century gnostic , and incredibly there was no mention of the fact that he was a gnostic and not a true Christian.

It appears that they can still infiltrate today.

Getting back to Peter's statements , he appears at first to be speaking of born again Christians as some of his statements are very extreme , but then he goes on to speak of a dog returning to his own vomit and a sow having been washed then returning to the mire.

This is interesting as dogs are spoken of in the Bible as unbelievers -

" But outside are DOGS and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Revelation 22 v 15.

Also the washing of the sow could refer to an outward washing which would produce a form of outward godliness without the inner reality.

But if you take a sow and clean it up on the outside , dress it in a nice suit , and seat it in the front row. It is still a sow inside and if it leaves the church it will soon go back to wallowing in the mire again.

Also the Biblcal languages are not always as nuanced in my opinion as our English language. Often the Bible will speak in extremes in a way that maybe we would not. Just to give two examples , firstly Jeremiah says to Israel -

" For thus says the LORD ‘Your affliction is INCURABLE , Your wound is severe. 13 There is no one to plead your cause, That you may be bound up; You have no healing medicines ".

Jeremiah 30 v 12 - 13.

This sounds pretty extreme. Yet further down in the same chapter the Lord says -

" For I will RESTORE HEALTH to you And HEAL you of your wounds,’ says the LORD ".

Jeremiah 30 v 17.

Our second example is Jacob's attitude toward Leah , the Scripture says -

" And he went in also unto Rachel, and HE LOVED RACHEL ALSO MORE THAN LEAH , and served with him yet seven other years ".

Genesis 29 v 30.

Then the very next verse says -

" And when the LORD saw that Leah was HATED , he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren ".

Genesis 29 v 31.

The word " hate " here ( sune ) , does mean " hate " in the Hebrew.

Strongs description of the word " hate " here is as follows -

To hate, be hateful.

Interesting how the " loved more " of verse 30 is the equivalent of the " hated " of verse 31.

This is what is known as the comparitive degree. 

For Jacob did not hate Leah as we use the word hate in english. It is simply a case of Rachel being Jacob's favorite wife , and that Leah was less favored.

After all Jacob and Leah had 6 children together.

This also sheds light on something Jesus said in the New Testament -

" 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.

Luke 14 v 26.

This word " hate " ( miseo ) is just as strong in Greek as it is in Hebrew , and is where we get the first part of the english word " misogyny ", ( hater of women ).

Strongs entry for this word says -

To hate, pursue with hatred, detest.

Again although Jesus uses this very strong word to express the comparative degree , yet that is exactly what is meant here. Whenever there is a conflict of interest between our devotion to the Lord and our devotion to our nearest and dearest , the Lord must always comes first.

This is apparent when , after Jesus had explained to his disciples that he must needs go up to Jerusalem to be killed and raised from the dead. Peter probably in an attempt to display to the Lord the depth of his devotion took Him to one side and said-

" Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

Matthew 16 v 22.

Jesus , far from being grateful , responded with single minded devotion to His Father's will --

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Mattthew 16 v 23.

After receiving such a stinging rebuke , Peter's wounded heart may have momentarily felt that Jesus love for him had suddenly turned to hate, but Jesus was more concerned with doing His Father's will than worrying about Peter's feelings.

Author:  Steve McGlade

Editor:   Ruth~Ann Waterhouse