TOUCHING NATIONS FOR CHRIST
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
I am amazed and perplexed by the scores of ministers, both young and old, who run all over the world looking for strategies to produce growth in their churches. Today, many preachers attend seminars, conventions and “think tanks,” where young ministry professionals use charts and polls to show them how to build larger churches. Other ministers flock to “revivals,” hoping to learn new methods of how to have the Holy Ghost fall on their congregations.
Right now, mission societies are sending out more workers than ever before. Their rallying cry has become, “We have to get more manpower on the mission field! More qualified men and women are needed to win the nations to Christ.”
Too many of the missionaries being sent are coming home within a few years. They’ve been beaten down, discouraged, flailed by demonic forces in those foreign nations. Why? Because their lives didn’t match the gospel they preached; they never developed a firsthand knowledge of Christ’s lordship or of the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
Beloved, it takes more than new ideas or strategies to touch nations for Christ. All our plans are in vain if Jesus isn’t enthroned in every area of our lives!
Never in history has there been such a wild rush of demonic spirits bursting forth from the bowels of hell. Lawlessness is sweeping the earth, with nation rising up against nation. And it’s all happening because Satan has unleashed his demonic hordes in a final war against the saints!
Yet God is never caught off guard by anything that happens in our world. He isn’t surprised by the awful drug plague or the blood-bath of abortion. So, what is His response in this time of turmoil and depravity? What does He propose as an antidote to the apostasy and growing demonic power? What will God do in such a time of ruin?
His answer is the same as it has always been—to bring forth the victory of Christ in a renewed way. God has always responded by raising up a fresh remnant of men and women who will be a pure testimony to His saving and sanctifying power, and the same is true today. His plan is to bring onto this scene of antichrist activity a body of separated, Christ-filled overcomers—godly men and women who will live in total submission to His government and lordship!
I am amazed and perplexed by the scores of ministers, both young and old, who run all over the world looking for strategies to produce growth in their churches. Today, many preachers attend seminars, conventions and “think tanks,” where young ministry professionals use charts and polls to show them how to build larger churches. Other ministers flock to “revivals,” hoping to learn new methods of how to have the Holy Ghost fall on their congregations.
Right now, mission societies are sending out more workers than ever before. Their rallying cry has become, “We have to get more manpower on the mission field! More qualified men and women are needed to win the nations to Christ.”
Too many of the missionaries being sent are coming home within a few years. They’ve been beaten down, discouraged, flailed by demonic forces in those foreign nations. Why? Because their lives didn’t match the gospel they preached; they never developed a firsthand knowledge of Christ’s lordship or of the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
Beloved, it takes more than new ideas or strategies to touch nations for Christ. All our plans are in vain if Jesus isn’t enthroned in every area of our lives!
Never in history has there been such a wild rush of demonic spirits bursting forth from the bowels of hell. Lawlessness is sweeping the earth, with nation rising up against nation. And it’s all happening because Satan has unleashed his demonic hordes in a final war against the saints!
Yet God is never caught off guard by anything that happens in our world. He isn’t surprised by the awful drug plague or the blood-bath of abortion. So, what is His response in this time of turmoil and depravity? What does He propose as an antidote to the apostasy and growing demonic power? What will God do in such a time of ruin?
His answer is the same as it has always been—to bring forth the victory of Christ in a renewed way. God has always responded by raising up a fresh remnant of men and women who will be a pure testimony to His saving and sanctifying power, and the same is true today. His plan is to bring onto this scene of antichrist activity a body of separated, Christ-filled overcomers—godly men and women who will live in total submission to His government and lordship!