In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Do you remember the push we had to be an Acts 1:8 church back in the early part of this century?
I hadn’t heard of this at the time, but I saw an ad in the Baptist Courier about a church looking for a pastor, and I sent them my resume with a cover letter. I never got a response from them. In their ad, they said they were looking for an Acts 1-8 pastor. I addressed that in my letter that I believed in Acts 1-8 and all the rest of scripture; it took me awhile to realize they were looking for someone who believed in one verse and not eight chapters.
Did you know that by the end of the first century, the apostles and others had spread the gospel from Spain to India? After his first imprisonment in Rome, we believe Paul went to Spain for a time. The Apostle Thomas went to India and is buried at Chennai according to Wikipedia. Isn’t it amazing what can happen when Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit? The apostles were able to communicate the gospel so that churches were started throughout the Roman Empire.
Besides your children or other family members, have you ever tried to share the gospel with anyone – maybe a co-worker or stranger? It is not an easy thing to do. Communication is the hardest thing to do unless you have had training. You may have tried and felt like I did after my letter and resume.
Yes, I was discouraged after talking with many people in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and South Carolina. I knew they were rejecting Christ, but I also felt they were rejecting me. In fact, at one time I was so frustrated I said, “Okay, if you want to die and go to hell, I don’t care”. Fortunately that was a long time ago; God has changed my heart. But I can imagine a lot of Christians get discouraged just like I did.
We have, I think, the same problem that some of the disciples had. Jesus tried to explain to them so they could understand as recorded in John 6:60-65. Many people were asking Him about how to obtain eternal life. When He answered with an allegory, they couldn’t comprehend the meaning. In verses 53-58, Jesus was trying to give them an illustration of His being the true manna from heaven. Remember Jesus’ words to the woman at the well in John 4? In explaining to His disciples, He used some words that I didn’t really understand for a long time. Jesus said, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. . .That is why I said that people can’t come to Me unless the Father gives them to Me.”
“People can’t come to Me unless the Father gives them to Me.” Why would Jesus say such a thing? Does that mean that people can’t be saved by their own volition? Yes, that is exactly what it means. Yes, people have free will to do whatever they want to do; we are not robots. But the one thing humans do not have free will to do is enter into a real relationship with God. Paul tells us why in 2 Corinthians 4:4: “Satan, who is the god of the world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, Who is the exact likeness of God.”
So, if Satan has blinded their minds, does that let me off the hook? Well, maybe it depends on what I do from now on. In John 15:16-17, we read where Jesus said, “You didn’t choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for using My name. This is My command: love each other.” In verses 18-27, Jesus talked more about what we would experience in life from unbelievers; He said they would hate us because they hated Him. He also said, “But I will send you the Advocate – the Spirit of Truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about Me.”
Yes, the world “hates” us. That is evident in so many countries these days. Christians are persecuted in Muslim countries, in India to some degree, and even in democratic countries if we do certain things like protest at school board meetings. Jesus even dealt with this problem. In John 17:11, we find Jesus praying for His disciples, “Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to You. Holy Father, You have given Me Your name, now protect them by the power of Your name so that they will be united just as We are.”
Why isn’t the church today like it was after Pentecost when people were being saved? In 1 Peter 2:9, we find these words; “. . .you are a chosen people. You are royal priests (men and women), a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.”
Now the question is, if I am a priest, what are my duties? The primary duty of a priest is to intercede with God for other people. In other words, we are to pray for the lost whether we know them or not. Think of it this way! I am genetically related to every person who is a descendant of Adam and Eve first of all and then of Noah and his family. But we don’t think of it that way. There is an illustration I heard many years ago about a man who prayed, “God bless me and my wife our son and his wife, us four and no more.” Now I don’t really believe anyone prays that way. But do our prayers go much farther? Do we really intercede for the lost in our community, our state, our nation or around the world? I don’t think so.
When Solomon dedicated the finished Temple, God appeared to him and said, “Then if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forget their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to every prayer in this place.” (2 Chron 7:14-15).
Now there are some people who believe that Christ did not die for all people but only the elect. This teaching has been attributed to a man named John Owen who was a great theologian and a leader of the Puritans in England during the 17th century. He was such an influence that even the great Charles H Spurgeon said in one of his sermons that he agreed with John Owen because he believed the blood of Christ was so precious that God would not allow one drop to be wasted on anyone who would not be saved.
But I don’t agree with that nor do most believers. Why? Because John tells us in one of his letters: “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate Who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one Who is truly righteous. He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only for our sins but the sins of all the world.” (1 John 2:1-2). I want to be clear on this issue. Both the Passover sacrifice and the Atonement sacrifice involved two separate things: the sacrifice and the atonement. If the Passover lamb was killed and eaten without the blood being applied to the door posts and lintel of the house, the eldest male would have died. If the atonement bull or goat was killed but the blood not sprinklered on the Mercy Seat, there would be no atonement. Likewise, when Christ died on the cross, His death paid for the sins that ever were or ever will be made, but the atonement is only available to those who put their faith in Christ and what He did for them on the cross. As Jesus said in John 3:18, “But anyone who does not believe in Him (the Son of God) has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” You see, the sacrifice is universal, but the atonement is limited to those who accept Christ as their savior.
So, if Jesus died for all the world, why will anyone go to hell? Because, like the Passover lamb, the blood had to be applied to save the lives of those in the home. In the same way, every person must by faith apply the blood to his sins by faith in what Christ did on the cross. And they will only know this if we pray constantly for God to remove Satan’s veil from their eyes so they can really see their sin, hear and understand the glorious gospel, and put their faith in Him.
In 2 Peter 3:9, Peter wrote, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” So we see, the problem isn’t with God, it is with us. As the apostle John wrote in Rev. 7:9, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, ‘Salvation comes from our God Who sits on the throne and from the Lamb’!” It is our duty as priests of our God to ask Him to make this happen. He wants us to bear much of the burden by pleading for every man, woman, boy, and girl on the face of the earth.
I challenge you today to consider your response to this message.