11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
-Revelations 20:11-15
I went to a preaching thing Saturday where two preachers were preaching (surprise!). They have the right idea, take the gospel message to every creature, as commanded in Mark 16:15. After a brief prayer, we walked over to the little patch of grass in front of the old courthouse and sang a couple hymns. I like singing hymns and such, but of course, preachers being preachers, they like to sing two and three verses deep into the songs. I can keep up with the first verse just fine, but on the second one I just have to stand there and listen until they get to the chorus. I'll have to start listening to hymns more to learn the words (sticky note on the desk!).
After a few hymns, the first preacher stepped forward to present his message. This week there was a family who actually stayed and listened the whole time. That's always cool. There were several other people who came and went (it's a shopping and eating area you see), but the bottom line is there were a decent number of people who had the opportunity to hear the gospel.
The second paster (who was holding signs with me) saw some people watching, so he went over to pass out tracts. They were polite from what I saw and accepted the tracts, and continued watching. After he returned, another group walked right by us. Of course, being the good Christian sign holders we were, we offered them tracts as they passed by. Every single one of them (four or five if I remember correctly) refused to take the tracts. They were polite of course, which is always appreciated, but after they were gone I starting thinking about that day of judgment, the day when the books are opened and every man is judged according to his works. Should those people die without repenting and asking for God's mercy, they will one day stand with the books open in front of them. There could be an entry like this:
February 16, 2008, 4:30(ish) PM – Presented with the good news of Jesus, offered literature and opportunity to repent. Rejected the Christ.
They will not be very happy right then, I imagine. First Corinthians 1:18 says:
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The preaching of the cross does seem foolish to those that perish. They may say, I didn't ask Jesus to die for me. Why would someone do that anyway? How can a man being killed two thousand years ago have any effect on me? Why would God send anyone to hell! I'm a good person, I'll make it into heaven.
It is for this reason I like to help out the preachers with their ministry in front of the courthouse. This way, those who are perishing have an opportunity to hear the cross explained through the spoken words of the speaker, the support shown by the lowly sign holder in back, hymns sung praising Jesus, literature distributed, and an opportunity to ask questions if they so desire. That is five separate modes of gospel communication brought straight to the sinners doorstep. On that terrible day of judgment, the condemned will have no excuse for having rejecting Jesus.
Anyway, that's just the thoughts I was going over after that group left. Shortly after the first preacher finished his sermon, and we sang more hymns, then the second preacher stepped forward and presented his message. A young boy was making noises and climbing a light pole during this, but he wasn't too distracting, and he probably brought some attention to the preacher, so it all worked out good. After the preachers had finished talking, we formed up and made our way back to the cars. I saw several people watching us go, none of them were looking malevolent, so hopefully seeing people get out and talk like that will get them thinking good and hard about the state of their souls. I look forward to doing this again next week!
I wish more Christians would start thinking beyond themselves. The realization that people you see all around you are perishing is mighty sobering. They are all part of the ultimate statistic: ten out of ten people die. If they die while lost, they are bound for a place which is far from pleasant. For eternity.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
-Hebrews 9:27
All Christians have an obligation to present the gospel to every creature. It is our responsibility to provide the lost with all the information the need to 1.) realize their need for salvation, 2.) realize the significance of Jesus' death, and 3.) repent. I want to take the opportunity to thank the preachers who go to the courthouse lawn every week and tell the good news. God bless you!
12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
-Revelations 20:11-15
I went to a preaching thing Saturday where two preachers were preaching (surprise!). They have the right idea, take the gospel message to every creature, as commanded in Mark 16:15. After a brief prayer, we walked over to the little patch of grass in front of the old courthouse and sang a couple hymns. I like singing hymns and such, but of course, preachers being preachers, they like to sing two and three verses deep into the songs. I can keep up with the first verse just fine, but on the second one I just have to stand there and listen until they get to the chorus. I'll have to start listening to hymns more to learn the words (sticky note on the desk!).
After a few hymns, the first preacher stepped forward to present his message. This week there was a family who actually stayed and listened the whole time. That's always cool. There were several other people who came and went (it's a shopping and eating area you see), but the bottom line is there were a decent number of people who had the opportunity to hear the gospel.
The second paster (who was holding signs with me) saw some people watching, so he went over to pass out tracts. They were polite from what I saw and accepted the tracts, and continued watching. After he returned, another group walked right by us. Of course, being the good Christian sign holders we were, we offered them tracts as they passed by. Every single one of them (four or five if I remember correctly) refused to take the tracts. They were polite of course, which is always appreciated, but after they were gone I starting thinking about that day of judgment, the day when the books are opened and every man is judged according to his works. Should those people die without repenting and asking for God's mercy, they will one day stand with the books open in front of them. There could be an entry like this:
February 16, 2008, 4:30(ish) PM – Presented with the good news of Jesus, offered literature and opportunity to repent. Rejected the Christ.
They will not be very happy right then, I imagine. First Corinthians 1:18 says:
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The preaching of the cross does seem foolish to those that perish. They may say, I didn't ask Jesus to die for me. Why would someone do that anyway? How can a man being killed two thousand years ago have any effect on me? Why would God send anyone to hell! I'm a good person, I'll make it into heaven.
It is for this reason I like to help out the preachers with their ministry in front of the courthouse. This way, those who are perishing have an opportunity to hear the cross explained through the spoken words of the speaker, the support shown by the lowly sign holder in back, hymns sung praising Jesus, literature distributed, and an opportunity to ask questions if they so desire. That is five separate modes of gospel communication brought straight to the sinners doorstep. On that terrible day of judgment, the condemned will have no excuse for having rejecting Jesus.
Anyway, that's just the thoughts I was going over after that group left. Shortly after the first preacher finished his sermon, and we sang more hymns, then the second preacher stepped forward and presented his message. A young boy was making noises and climbing a light pole during this, but he wasn't too distracting, and he probably brought some attention to the preacher, so it all worked out good. After the preachers had finished talking, we formed up and made our way back to the cars. I saw several people watching us go, none of them were looking malevolent, so hopefully seeing people get out and talk like that will get them thinking good and hard about the state of their souls. I look forward to doing this again next week!
I wish more Christians would start thinking beyond themselves. The realization that people you see all around you are perishing is mighty sobering. They are all part of the ultimate statistic: ten out of ten people die. If they die while lost, they are bound for a place which is far from pleasant. For eternity.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
-Hebrews 9:27
All Christians have an obligation to present the gospel to every creature. It is our responsibility to provide the lost with all the information the need to 1.) realize their need for salvation, 2.) realize the significance of Jesus' death, and 3.) repent. I want to take the opportunity to thank the preachers who go to the courthouse lawn every week and tell the good news. God bless you!
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