- Aug 10, 2006
- 14,965
- 3,831
- 74
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
Ezekiel 2:1-5 ESV
You do not have to be a prophet of God for the Lord to speak through you to the people if you are a true child of God. For we have the Holy Spirit living within us, and so we have the Word of God living within us, as well as we have the written Word of God to share with the people. And we who are in Christ Jesus, through God-given faith in him, are all called of God to proclaim the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, and to be his witnesses, and to make disciples of people.
[1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Pet. 2:21; Matt. 5:13-16; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom. 10:14-15; Jn. 4:31-38; Jn. 13:13-17; Jn. 14:12; 1 Jn. 2:6]
And the Lord Jesus doesn’t just send us to those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but he sends us to those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, many of whom are rebelling against the Lord Jesus, and who are going their own way, doing their own thing, without regard for our Lord and for his commands (New Covenant). And he gives us words to say to them, too, which come from the Scriptures. And there are plenty of words both of encouragement and warning that we can share.
[Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Php 2:1-8; Heb 10:23-25; Rom 15:14]
And in our world today, at least here in America where the gospel which is permeating the church is an altered half-truth (lie) gospel message, we have many professers of faith in Jesus Christ who are living not much differently from those who make no profession of faith in Christ. For they feel at liberty to keep on in their sin, convinced that all their sins (even future sins) are covered by the blood of Christ and that heaven is guaranteed them when they die, regardless of how they live their lives on this earth.
For they have no fear of God. They do not honor him with their lives. They do not revere him as God, and they do not believe his word. They are content believing the lies while they ignore the truth and they go on with their lives without any concern that how they are living might send them to hell and not to heaven. Many of them, if you try to tell them the truth, will stop up their ears and they will ignore you, because you are not telling them what their itching ears want to hear.
But whether they listen or they fail to listen, we as followers of Jesus Christ still have a God-given responsibility before God to tell them the truth. Our job is just to speak the truth. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict and the Father’s job to draw them to genuine faith in Christ. And it is the people’s responsibility with regard to how they choose to respond to the truth of God’s Word. But God’s words will never return to God empty, but they will accomplish that which God purposes, and shall succeed in the things for which God sent them (Isaiah 55:11). And we can rest in that truth.
Ezekiel 2:6-7 ESV
Now, when we speak the truth in love to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but who are not living that faith, or when we share the truth of the gospel with those who have not professed faith in Jesus Christ, we should expect that we are not going to be warmly received by all people, perhaps not even by most people. For the Scriptures teach that we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and that we will be opposed and rejected and cast aside as worthless. But we are not to fear opposition.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]
Ezekiel 2:8-10 ESV
And we are not to run away from God and his calling on our lives just because of persecution or because things got harder than they were before. For they will get harder. For the more we speak the truth the more the enemy of our souls is going to come against us and to attack us, and he will use other humans against us, too, even our family members and other professing Christians, and even some pastors of church congregations who are following the ways of man and not the ways of God. But we must endure unjust suffering for the sake of the salvation of human lives.
Follow Him
An Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based off Luke 9:22-25
Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.
Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.
If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.
Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.
Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!
And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
You do not have to be a prophet of God for the Lord to speak through you to the people if you are a true child of God. For we have the Holy Spirit living within us, and so we have the Word of God living within us, as well as we have the written Word of God to share with the people. And we who are in Christ Jesus, through God-given faith in him, are all called of God to proclaim the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, and to be his witnesses, and to make disciples of people.
[1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Pet. 2:21; Matt. 5:13-16; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom. 10:14-15; Jn. 4:31-38; Jn. 13:13-17; Jn. 14:12; 1 Jn. 2:6]
And the Lord Jesus doesn’t just send us to those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but he sends us to those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, many of whom are rebelling against the Lord Jesus, and who are going their own way, doing their own thing, without regard for our Lord and for his commands (New Covenant). And he gives us words to say to them, too, which come from the Scriptures. And there are plenty of words both of encouragement and warning that we can share.
[Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Php 2:1-8; Heb 10:23-25; Rom 15:14]
And in our world today, at least here in America where the gospel which is permeating the church is an altered half-truth (lie) gospel message, we have many professers of faith in Jesus Christ who are living not much differently from those who make no profession of faith in Christ. For they feel at liberty to keep on in their sin, convinced that all their sins (even future sins) are covered by the blood of Christ and that heaven is guaranteed them when they die, regardless of how they live their lives on this earth.
For they have no fear of God. They do not honor him with their lives. They do not revere him as God, and they do not believe his word. They are content believing the lies while they ignore the truth and they go on with their lives without any concern that how they are living might send them to hell and not to heaven. Many of them, if you try to tell them the truth, will stop up their ears and they will ignore you, because you are not telling them what their itching ears want to hear.
But whether they listen or they fail to listen, we as followers of Jesus Christ still have a God-given responsibility before God to tell them the truth. Our job is just to speak the truth. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict and the Father’s job to draw them to genuine faith in Christ. And it is the people’s responsibility with regard to how they choose to respond to the truth of God’s Word. But God’s words will never return to God empty, but they will accomplish that which God purposes, and shall succeed in the things for which God sent them (Isaiah 55:11). And we can rest in that truth.
Ezekiel 2:6-7 ESV
“And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.”
Now, when we speak the truth in love to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but who are not living that faith, or when we share the truth of the gospel with those who have not professed faith in Jesus Christ, we should expect that we are not going to be warmly received by all people, perhaps not even by most people. For the Scriptures teach that we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and that we will be opposed and rejected and cast aside as worthless. But we are not to fear opposition.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]
Ezekiel 2:8-10 ESV
“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.”
And we are not to run away from God and his calling on our lives just because of persecution or because things got harder than they were before. For they will get harder. For the more we speak the truth the more the enemy of our souls is going to come against us and to attack us, and he will use other humans against us, too, even our family members and other professing Christians, and even some pastors of church congregations who are following the ways of man and not the ways of God. But we must endure unjust suffering for the sake of the salvation of human lives.
Follow Him
An Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based off Luke 9:22-25
Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.
Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.
If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.
Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.
Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!
