Friday, May 5, 2017

What It Means To Be The Messenger And Not The Message Giver



The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God… —1 Peter 4:17

{CHAMBERS} “The Christian servant must never forget that salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has an unfathomable depth. Salvation is the great thought of God, not an experience. Experience is simply the door through which salvation comes into the conscious level of our life so that we are aware of what has taken place on a much deeper level. […]  Never sympathize with someone who finds it difficult to get to God; God is not to blame. It is not for us to figure out the reason for the difficulty, but only to present the truth of God so that the Spirit of God will reveal what is wrong. […] If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account. Every element of our own self-reliance must be put to death by the power of God. The moment we recognize our complete weakness and our dependence upon Him will be the very moment that the Spirit of God will exhibit His power.”

{ELGIN}  Don’t shoot the messenger.  Have you ever heard that expression?  What it means is that the messenger is merely bringing the message from the one who sent it.  The messenger has no connection to the origin of the message with the exception that he has been given the responsibility to deliver it.  And so it is with us and the Gospel.  The Gospel is a message from God to mankind.  It is not our message, although we, ourselves, were once the recipients.  It is not our responsibility if someone refuses to embrace the message.  It is only our responsibility to deliver it.  Don’t ever feel responsible for another person’s response to the Gospel.  As much as you might want to save someone, you can’t.  Only God can.  But you can be faithful to deliver the message.  You may only have to go next door or you may have to go to a remote village on a mountain.  The “where” really is not important to the messenger.  It is the “what” that is important.  It’s your obedience that is important in going when and where the Message Giver sends you.  And leave the saving up to the Savior.

(Romans 10:13-15) “for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!””

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