“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9
There is no better way for the unsaved to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead than to see Him raised in you.
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:38
Let us ask God to anoint us to do the kind of good that Jesus did. The good He did was heal people of demonic oppression. We could do all kinds of nice things for people, but what good would it be if they were left under the bondage of the devil?
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19
The word converted comes from the Greek word epistrepho which means to revert or turn. This word brings more clarity of what it means to repent. Salvation is a free gift, but you still have to do something to get it. I know saying something like that causes a lot of Christians to get nervous. However, you have to repent of your sins and turn away from them and turn to God if you want salvation. It is not different than if someone gives you a present. You have to reach out and take it from them. So if one is going to get saved, they have to humble themselves and turn to God to get it.
“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:” Acts 2:22
The “miracles and wonders and signs which God did” through Jesus, proved He was sent from God. If God did miracles through Jesus, who was the perfect Son of God, to prove He was from God, then how much more do we the church need God to perform “miracles and wonders and signs” through us to prove to the world we are from God.
“The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.” John 12:17
You can be sure that others will bear record of your life. Will that record of you be a testimony of the glorious love and power of God working in your life?
“And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press (crowd), because he was little of stature.” Luke 19:3
It is generally thought that Zacchaeus could not see Jesus because He was short. However, the problem was that the crowd was in the way. So, are you a part of the crowd, who flocks to Jesus, that hinders others from seeing Jesus, or are you of the crowd that helps others to see Jesus?
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
If you don’t preach that there is a hell, you cannot preach that there is a heaven. Both places are found in the teachings of the Bible. We must believe the whole book. We cannot pick and choose the things we like or dislike in the Bible. Many today only want to preach and accept that there is a heaven. Well sir, where did you learn about heaven from? The same book that tells us about hell. Denying there is a hell, will never help those who are going there, to be delivered from it. Hell is real, hell has enlarged its mouth to receive all who reject Christ. Let the people know they can be delivered from hell.
“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.” Micah 7:18
Shame on any believer who does not show mercy toward others. God delights in mercy, so must every believer. However, there is one huge difference between man’s mercy and God’s. Only God has the authority to pardon iniquity. You and I can show the utmost mercy toward anyone who has offended us. We can even forgive them for any terrible things they have done to us and not require for them to make it up to us. But we can never forgive anyone to the extent that we can pardon them for their offenses against God. The whole point I am making is never be satisfied with the mercy you show towards others as if that somehow makes them right before God. It indeed makes you right, but continue to pray and point those people toward the One who can forgive them of all their transgressions and receive from Him the ultimate mercy, mercy from God. Hallelujah
