So what about the Christian and his relationship with lost humanity-what should his attitude be? Scripture is very clear throughout its pages. From Moses who prayed that God would take his life in order to spare the people of Israel to Paul who stated that he would wish that he himself were cursed in order that his fellow countrymen would be saved, it shows us that we must be prepared to put our lives on the line for the lost.Jesus was of course the perfect example when he laid down his life for us on the cross and took the punishment for our sin in order that we might go free.
I am tempted to say it is only the spiritually mature who will have this attitude-perhaps this is true, but it does not necessarily have to do with the length of years a person has been a Christian. A young Christian fully grasping the love of God in his own life might easily be prepared to lay down his life for God and the lost, whereas sadly it is often the older Christian, whose love has become lukewarm, who would rarely dare countenance such a thought.
The preacher Charles Spurgeon expresses the essence of my thoughts more eloquently that I in the follow paragraph, and my prayer is that it would stir our hearts in prayer and action for our unsaved friends and family as well as the myriads of people that we meet throughout our lives.AK
"Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, will be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others. He will be like the brave fireman, who cares not for the scorch or the heat, so that he may rescue the poor creature on whom true humanity has set its heart. If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
Sorry for not having been by in a while. It's strange because hardly a day goes by when I am not speaking of you in prayer to the Lord. Some times I just forget to visit.
ReplyDeleteThis post especially touched me deeply, because it is what is most troubling to me about the Church. My last several blog posts have dealt with it, starting with a poem prophecy that I posted back on June 14, called Children. The written part caused me to weep literally every time I reread it for the first few days, then the emotion softly subsided, and the ache remains. The unwritten part is still a burden on me, and I am unable to escape it.
I wrote another post What price, salvation? on June 19, in which I asked many questions of my fellow Christians. I am tormented by the lateness of the hour and, as it gets later, the growing aimlessness and disinterest, and even the scornful attitude, of my fellow Christians towards the lost.
Please pray for me, brother, as sometimes it is more than I can bear, and I am alone, with no one near to encourage me.
As always, I witness wherever I am, because I can do nothing else, but I have no program to go door to door or start reading the bible again out loud on the streets. I always wait for the Lord to prompt, and thus far, all He says is, "Cry!" And that's all I am doing at present. He only sends the grace and the strength and will to act. But for him, I am a lump of coal. Like Jesus says, "I came to bring fire to earth. How I wish it were already ablaze."
How I wish I were already ablaze!
The words do melt my heart- give me souls or I die!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant piece!
ReplyDeleteWOW,WOW,WOW. Christ laid down his life for us, we also ought to lay our lives down.
ReplyDeleteHow much Christians love the lost-as much as Christ loves us.
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