Welcome!
Today: A message that needs to be rushed
Passage: Titus 2
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2, NIV 84) emphasis added
This is the third in this series, “back to basics”
The message of salvation needs to be rushed in whichever ways we can
What we mostly see in the church today is this: The “sleeping church” (with few exceptions); Preachers and Pastors diluting the gospel to fit the demand of the people; Sin is “justified” and covered; “repentance” became history; Word of God is rarely preached in its originality; Power of God and Agape love are aliens..!
What is salvation? Here is an illustration. Suppose there is an epidemic like cholera spreading fast and many are dying. Someone found out a cure for the disease and would like to spread the news across as fast and clear as possible. He tries his best to do so by all means, to save one more person if he can. That is the kind of urgency needed, in spreading the good news of the gospel!
God knows that millions are living and dying unsaved. If one more person can be snatched from eternal fire to life, that is definitely a great, great thing!
Our salvation is 100% God’s work. Here is another illustration, which I have shared once before. A rich father in the U.S sends his son to a very poor part of the world where people don’t even have one meal a day. This son has compassion on them and decides to adopt a child. That child has never been into a plane, not even a car! What would be the excitement of that child, when she is given a good shower, given the best dress and finally brought into that mansion? She will be running all over the place, touching every thing in that house in amazement and wondering, “what in the world is this!”
That child did not qualify for any of this on her own. There is nothing she could do, to “qualify” for such a selection, except that she accepted the offer. Had she done anything to make herself “look better”, this man would have selected someone else because he was looking for the poorest of them. Those who are somewhat better, he would ignore!
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. (1 Cor 1. NIV 84)
The message of the cross has a “dead line”, which is the coming of Christ
So we need to get it fast, before that happens
May God bless your day. Get the good news across to someone, some way!
BG
Prayer: Thank you Jesus, for “qualifying” me for your kingdom, to such a high privilege. I feel many times that I am better than many out there, and I know that is a “disqualification” for you.Help me to have the right attitude. Amen
“When we look good in our own eyes, we may not look so good in God’s eyes!”