Reasons for Sharing the Gospel

Years ago somebody built a house. This guy worked hard overseas, saved money and spent it all for this beautiful house, except there was a problem. The house was built on the wrong lot. No amount of court litigation or appeal would force the judge to make him own the property. If you built your house on a property that is not yours, you cannot own the property or the house. Many of us are headed in this direction and may not even realize it. We are building our lives on something that is not going to last because the foundation is not right. What are you focusing your life on?

Elizabeth Dole puts things in proper perspective: “Life is not just a few years to spend on self-indulgence and career advancement. It is a privilege, a responsibility, a stewardship to be lived according to a much higher calling, God's calling. This alone gives true meaning to life.” Howard Hendricks makes this distinction: “Your career is what you are paid for. Your calling is what you are made for.” Do you know your calling? Is your personal mission aligned with the mission and vision of God? If your life is not aligned with God's vision, you will be just like the man who built his house on the wrong place. Whatever God calls you for, you must do it in conjunction with His mission and do it for His Glory.

The apostle Paul was a persecutor of Christians until he had a personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. The passion with which he formerly persecuted Christians was re-channeled into the preaching of the Gospel. He took the higher calling seriously, and the love Paul had for Jesus and the Gospel was embodied in his words in Romans 1:14-16: “I am under obligation.” Because he experienced the goodness of God in his life, Paul is telling us that he is under obligation to pass it to others. “I am eager.” The joy Paul received from his personal knowledge of Christ gave him the excitement to share with others what he had come to know. “I am not ashamed.” Paul could not hide from others what he had gained from knowing Christ. Because he was doing people a favor, he was not embarrassed or intimidated to tell others about the Good News.

Jesus' last words on earth before He was lifted up to heaven are clear instructions of what we are expected to do until He returns. “…but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We are to be witnesses for Christ, which simply means to tell others what we have heard from Him and what we have seen Him do in our lives. But how do we develop a sense of obligation, eagerness and not being ashamed of the Gospel? How do we develop a positive attitude towards sharing the Good News? There are two important principles we need to be convinced of:

The reality of who Jesus is and what He has done. Who is Jesus to you? That is the most important question. Do you truly believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you have faith in Jesus whose death on the Cross has fully paid for our sins? Have you tasted His love and goodness in your life? Until you experience the reality of Jesus, who He is and what He has done for you, it is hard to develop enthusiasm. There is a difference between conviction and just believing in the head. There are certain things we can discuss and debate on, but there are certain things we must be willing to die for. Until we have a personal encounter with the risen Savior, we will not have deep convictions about Jesus; convictions that we would die for.

The reality of eternal consequences. We have been led to believe that we can live life on our terms, and reserve holy living in the afterlife. But the truth is, after death comes judgment. The Bible gives us a glimpse of the afterlife in Luke 16:19-31. After physical death, the rich man who lived an ungodly life was thrown into hell to suffer in agony, while Lazarus received comfort in heaven. The deep, fixed chasm separating the two places removes the possibility of crossing over from one side to the other. Those who do not accept the gospel ultimately reject Christ. Their destiny is eternal torment in hell. Those who believe the gospel and let Jesus enter their lives will live forever with Christ in His Kingdom. Hence, based on the evidence of Scriptures, what you do with the Gospel will impact not just your life; it will impact the lives of other people. We must not be ashamed or embarrassed. We should share the Gospel with eagerness. We will never come close to fulfilling the Great Commission of making committed followers of Jesus Christ if we have no conviction about who Jesus is and what He has done, or about the reality of heaven and hell. There will be no heart for evangelism unless we have given our heart to Christ.

True success comes only as a result of doing what God wants us to do. We can be a street sweeper, but we can be the best street sweeper there is, if we do our job well and do it for God's glory. Life is never lived well unless it is in line with God's higher calling. Witnessing for Christ is being aligned to His calling. Will Jesus find us busy pursuing His agenda upon His return?

Speaker: Ptr. Peter Tanchi
CCF Main, St. Francis Square


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I listened to this preaching a while back. My gosh. It really striked me, man. I was like, OH-MY-GOSH. O_O lol. I'm a kind of person (Christian) who is really a bit afraid of sharing the Gospel coz I hate it when I talk to someone and they'll just gonna reject it. Like, they don't wanna listen, they don't wanna know. They don't even care at all. Sheesh.

I always go on outreach in our church here. We go to town or go to some other places. If it's in the afternoon, we'll burn ourselves under the heat of the sun and give tracts and yeh, talk to people too. During outreach at noon, I usually stay near the bus station if i don't hold a sign. Well, you might say it sounds crazy. This is all for God! People need to get saved. So, we really don't mind at all.

Well anyways, there's this one time that I almost collapsed while I was holding a sign under the heat of the sun. (The sun here in Fiji is damn hot!) I just did it for like 15 minutes and one of our church leaders asked a guy (I forgot his name. My bad.) to get my sign. I feel like, gosh, I wanna do this but I can't. So there. I just gave some tracts to people who pass by. Sometimes, it's nakakahiya so pinapalampas ko na lang. lol. I know it's wrong. So anyway, after a coupla minutes, I felt really dizzy that our leader have to guide me to the bus stop. That's the nearest place where I can sit eh. lol. So yah, while I was there, I so wanna give out tracts man. But my body can't move. They gave me water and accompanied me there until I get well. While I was there, I felt this burden that God is like talking to me that Fei, you should reach out to people in the bus stop. I mean, look, this people stay there until the bus comes. And it's a place where there's always a lot of people. I feel the burden! Waaah.

After listening to this preaching (I just got the mp3 coz it's easier to download), God touched my heart. It's the second month of the year. One of my resolutions is to go out of my comfort zone and start what I gotta do as a Christian. Share the Gospel. Before I left the Philippines, when I was attending Jzone, I felt this "calling". Bahahaha. Yeah, Many are called but few are chosen. I got lots of plans when I left. All the things I learned from Jzone, from the awesome retreats. God always convicted my heart. I'm starting school this end of the month. Am a bit excited. lol. Just kidd. I am really excited. Hehe. And well, I hope I can start a Bible Study Group soon! =)

Sooo. Therefore, I'm gonna share the Gospel to my friends when I start school. Like seriously. “…but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) I will receive the power to witness. I wouldn't care if they reject the Gospel. It's not me they are rejecting. It's Jesus. And rejecting Jesus have consequences. But as a Committed Follower of Christ, we gotta bring more souls to Him. Before it's too late. We are living in a dying world, man. Save souls for Christ. All for Jesus! Pray for me. =)

A site to visit: http://www.squidoo.com/jzone
[I made this lens on Squidoo. I miss Jzone. Ahehe.]

(I'm on a fasting, friends! My gosh. haha. lol. I'll post another entry later. It's almost 4am now in my time. lmao. So yeeeh. See yah later!)