We Give It Away – Part 2

  

Michael continues that Jesus had trained His followers for several years. After His death and resurrection, He was seen by multitudes of people. The last thing He shared with His disciples was in Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus said in John 14 that he would need to leave, but that He would send them the comforter to come alongside them to help them. The comforter is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what communicates the revelation of God’s word. According to 1 Corinthians, the natural man (of body and soul without the Spirit of God) understands not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned.

Witnessing is simply what John the Baptist’s followers reported after they had seen Jesus: We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Like Peter’s brother Andrew said to him, “come and see the one I’ve met.” Jesus had a unique message. According to Matthew 4:19, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  To follow Jesus is to pursue Him as a disciplined follower of a new and different way of life. As followers of Christ we are nodes in God’s fishing network. To follow means to accept Jesus’ authority as lord of our lives. To follow Christ, we must come with a heart of meekness and humility. We must follow him on his terms, not ours. Jesus said, he who loses his life for my sake shall find it. Christianity is a rescue effort for desperate men and women. In order to repent, to turn from ourselves unto the Lord Jesus Christ, we must “come to ourselves” like the prodigal son. As the Apostle Paul said, “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” Mother Theresa said, “God works best with nothing.” In order for God to fill us, we need to get to the point that our hearts and hands are emptied of ourselves.

There is good news and bad news about the gospel of Christ. If you come to understand that the heart of man is desperately wicked, then the good news of Christ is the gospel of deliverance from the bondage of sin and death. If you want to learn to become just like Jesus, this is a prayer that God is blessed to answer. Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, “those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.” A disciple is a disciplined follower of his Lord. Some children ore coachable and some are not. Those who are meek and teachable are the ones who become disciplined followers. If we live our lives allowing God to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure, we will learn the meaning of Philippians 1:27: Only let your conversation, your behavior, your manner of living, your citizenship as citizens of heaven be as it becomes the gospel of Christ.  

What is God’s plan? We are the plan. He has given us the ministry to reconcile God’s people back to Him. He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. God has empowered us with His Holy Spirit and enabled us to speak His word, the message of deliverance ... the message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We are called as His ambassadors from our homeland in heaven to deliver a peace treaty from our Sovereign Lord. This is our charge, our mission, and our commission... Go give ‘em heaven! In spreading the good news of the gospel of salvation and may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!

Let's continue Michael's message in the next post.

In Christ, Brian