What if They Don't Receive You?

[Christsfreeservant]

“Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.​

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“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.” (Luke 10:8-15 ESV)​

Not everyone is going to like us and to receive us and our message with joy. So many have bought into a false grace gospel which does not require repentance and obedience to Christ as necessary components of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. They are being taught that all they have to do is pray a prayer and they have their ticket into heaven and no one can take it away. But if sin is still what they practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to the Lord, then they will not inherit eternal life with God.

But so many people are not being taught the crucified life or that we have to die with Christ to sin and to self, that we must be born anew of the Spirit of God, and that we must walk in the Spirit and not according the flesh once we have been saved from our sins. So, if you try to teach what Christ and the apostles taught, you may be rejected even by those who profess to have faith in Jesus Christ, and even by church leaders who have watered down the gospel to make it more appealing to the people of this world.

Thus, if you share the gospel of salvation, and those who hear it reject it, then move on. We can’t force anyone to believe in Jesus Christ. All we can do is to share with them the truth, but it is up to them whether to accept it or whether to reject it. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts hearts and turns people to faith in Jesus Christ. His word will never return empty. It will fulfill its purposes.

All we can do is to share with people the truth of God’s Word and trust that the living Word of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit will convict their hearts of sin and that they will humble themselves before God in turning from their sin and in turning to faith in Jesus Christ and to living for him by faith in the power of the Spirit of God within them. If they do repent of their sins and trust in Christ as Savior, then we must commit ourselves to discipling them to maturity, where possible, i.e. to also teaching believers in Christ what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to help them to grow in their walks of faith.

Hears or Rejects?

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16 ESV)​

When we are rejected for teaching the truths of scripture and for sharing the full gospel message of salvation, as was taught by Jesus Christ and by the NT apostles, we must know that it is not just us they are rejecting, but they are rejecting Jesus Christ and God the Father, too. Yet, if they hear what we have to say and they accept the gospel message, then it is because they hear the Savior speaking to their hearts via the living word of God and via the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and thus they respond to the Spirit’s voice.

If we have not already done so, we must all make a choice to either accept Jesus Christ and his gospel message or to reject them. One day Jesus Christ is coming back to judge the earth and to take his followers to be with him forever. But accepting his gospel is not a formality or an emotional decision or a formula we must follow. It means to be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:1-23).

When the day of judgment comes, if not before, many people will die in their sins, having never believed in Jesus Christ and having not made that decision to repent of their sins and to walk in obedience to their Lord who died for them so they would no longer live for themselves but for him who gave himself up for them. They will spend eternity in torment, punishment and eternal separation from God. Yet, if they hear the Word and receive it, repent of their sins and turn to walk in fellowship with their Lord, as his followers, then they have the hope of eternal life in heaven with God.

Time is running out. None of us knows what tomorrow holds for us. Don’t put off until tomorrow to make that decision, because you don’t know when you will breathe your last breath. Make the choice right now to bow before God, to turn from your sins, to allow the Spirit of God to transform you in heart and mind, and then to follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads you, from now to eternity. Your life depends on it! And, you will never regret it!

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

Hymn lyrics by Henry F. Lyte, 1833
Music attr. to Mozart, 1831/ Arr. Hubert P. Main, 1872

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known;
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heav’n are still mine own.

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too;
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”; I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to Thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me; heav’n will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me, while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heav’n’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

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