This was a special night, perhaps my last one with the Jude 23 Network because I'm moving to Wilmore, KY this week to attend college. Lord willing I'll be back in the future to labor with these precious people that I love so much. My first witness was with a group of four teen (18/19 yr. old) guys who had a little head knowledge of the gospel. They listened and were very open with me as I laid the 'foundation' to bring in the gospel. I wanted to let them know that being a Christian is a supernatural work of God, through faith, that can be seen by the fruit of one's life. 'Without holiness no one will see God' so I challenged these guys to look at their daily lifestyle in light of God's Word. Do you see a continual, not perfect, but a constant growing in love, purity, holiness and seperation from the world to God? Or are you growing in your friendship with the world & the things of this world?
Brandon & Nick
Soon I began to talk with two young men, Brandon & Nick, who have actually talked with John on couple other occasions. Hoping to water the seed that John has been sowing I engaged them in their conscience. As we began they said they didn't believe in God or Christianity and were loosely spewing profanity left & right. Over the next hour or so I began to see their hearts soften and their minds began to understand the heart of the gospel. That Christ is the only way because He is the only sufficient sacrifice for sin. All men are sinners and will pay for all their sins in hell unless God rescues them Himself....which He did!!!! In the person, in the life & in the sacrifice of the only righteous man to ever live (Jesus Christ: fully God & fully man).
These guys had questions about what is true repentance? and how can one know they're saved if they still sin? I explained that true repentance & faith is a gift from God which comes with a new heart, a new Spirit and with new desires to love God & hate sin. A true Christian isn't left on his own! No, God makes him a 'new creature' who now has the ability to fight against sin with his new heart & the Holy Spirit because sin, death & Satan has been defeated for us by Christ. Sure we may stumble, but we don't stay there because conviction will come and we now despise sin because we don't want to grieve our new treasure & life (Jesus Christ). When Christ died on the cross he paid for all the sins of believers (past, present & future) so that we can have peace with God and overcome sin, not continue in it. Brandon & Nick said they respected me for admitting my failures & the Jude 23 Network for sharing the gospel with them.
These guys even agreed with me that they felt guilt and little satisfaction in their lifestyles of sin. That it gave them enough pleasure to keep them coming back, but I told them their is One who is the bread of life & the Living water......eat! drink! and you will hunger & thirst no more! "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. " -Jn 6:35. The Prophet Jeremiah's cry was 'Stop drinking the world's dirty empty jugs of water that can not fill you when you could drink from the fountain of living water'. I told these guys what the bible says about them: That their spiritually dead, blind, slaves to their sins and cannot see the beauty & glory of Christ. That is whats stopping them and amazingly Brandon & Nick agreed with me?!!!! They said they know they're sinners and would go to hell if they died, so all I could do was tell them to just repent & trust Christ. Come as you are, let God clean you up. Even Christians on their best day deserve to go to hell (no one is good enough to deserve heaven) only trust in the person & work of Jesus Christ.
I think God really blessed His Word preached because it seemed at least theses two guys were rocked by us just lifting up Christ. We just proclaim Christ crucified and resurrected and hope the Spirit will convict and draw men to repentance. I pray and hope to see Brandon & Nick in heaven one day. Lord do this for Your own name sake.
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