Not Ashamed of the testimony of Jesus
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
It had been a while since I gave tracts on the train. Last Wednesday morning I sat on the train reading as usual when these two college students sat beside me chatting all the way. Suddenly that sweet old voice started whispering in my ear again. He may have whispered at other occasions too but today I heard him clearly. Now how do I break through the rut I had fallen into. We had not gone tract passing in a while and I had cold feet so to speak.
On the other hand the Lord had blessed me with my son's presence and with my daughter's support but I had been very busy worrying about real estate issues that I slacked down a bit. I struggled in the beginning but just before disembarking I managed to pull myself together and gave the girls the two tracts. Suddenly the ice was broken, and I was slowly going back to my old habit of passing out tracts on a one-on-one basis. Last Friday a group of us (eight in total) broke out singing praises to God at the top of our lungs in the midst of China town just before midnight. I honestly feel that it must have pleased the Lord.
For just this Saturday (as my daughter has posted on her blog) my son, daughter and I gathered up our energies and hit the metro. God blessed and there was an amazing outpour of the spirit. I described it as though we had neglected the fishes who were now starving for the Word. Schools of fishes swarmed the metro. We could not keep up with the people who came out of every nook and cranny. It was a dizzying exercise to pass all those tracts to everyone. What is more is that four souls prayed with us. There was a time when the four of us were witnessing one-on-one to four different people. The metro station had turned into a church counselling service. Had there been more workers, more souls would have prayed, I am sure. Luke 9:26 - For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
To top it off, fourteen people from my church went street preaching in the heart of downtown Montreal yesterday. The men preached the WORD as loud as they could. Titus 2:8 - Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Some people called the cops on us who in turn gave us a warning but would not dare give us a ticket although one cop threatened to give each of the preaching men a fine $200.-. The cop had no answer when one of our men asked him to give tickets to those who were doping (the smell of it filled the air). Isn't it a shame that these people were not ashamed of the sinful environment (pictures etc) instead they were angry at godly men who were preaching the gospel of salvation unto a lost world. Romans 6:21 - What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
As for me although I was afraid at some point that they would arrest the men, my son included, I had to remind myself and did find comfort in the following verse: Mark 8:38 - Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Same here, with all the tract passing and great preching we've been getting at the church, I truly feel as though my strength is renewed.
Anyways. Since I cannot post on the main page, I would like to put up the following comment:
Have you guys every really read the verse that says "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."? You guys probably have (I am probably the only slacker here)..
But I haven't (until recently). How much do I love myself (I asked)?
I get mad at myself. I am almost consistently displeased with myself. I find fault with myself all the time. HOwever, I care for myself a lot. Obviously, then, this verse is not talking about "loving" in the sense we know it, but "loving" as in making that person your top priority.
Anyways....interesting thought
I used that verse in street-preaching yesterday, to explain to people that this is why we were warning them of hell.
You might have a sermon's outline in your comment.
joe