May 4, 2016
MY FRIENDS, HAVE OUR SALVATION BECOME OPTIONAL?
Two thousand years ago our mission started with only two. “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matt 4:18-19 (NKJV) Then the church went from two to twelve in just a short period of time.
And from those twelve, Christianity or the teachings of Christ begin and from twelve it grew to 120 men and women who had gathered as Christ had commanded them before His ascension, do “not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father,” which we now know was the Holy Spirit. “120 believers in the upper room went to Jerusalem along with pilgrims from all over the world to celebrate the day of Pentecost.
This is a ratio of one Christian to approximately every 500,000 to 580,000 people in the empire at that time. From a human standpoint, Jesus’ 
command to preach the gospel to the world seemed unthinkable, but yet, the Christian church exploded in growth. Tens of thousands were converted. The message of Jesus’ love was carried to the remotest parts of the empire and it reveals that in a few generations Christianity had invaded nearly every level of society even in the remote provinces.” (Mark Finley)
This shows each of God’s chosen who are committed to serving God, the power of God and His Spirit, when we as Christian’s come together as one and have an upper room experience. And friends, it is not finished. Christ has told each of us to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” So if that is our mandate, we must first start with family and friends, our communities and co-workers which is only our starting point.
But our passion to serve must not become optional. “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matt 24:38-39 (NKJV)But we are living in a “whatever.” Society where Satan has the minds of the masses bound to the things of this earth.
But if God has given us a message “for such a time as this,” our salvation cannot be optional or based on our desire to upgrade from a thirty two inch flat screen to a seventy inch, or from a Chevy to a Mercedes because the world says we must lay up our treasures here of this earth. My friends our legacy here on earth must be all about Christ legacy which begins at Calvary and will end at His second coming.
If our goal is God’s kingdom then we must “prioritize our transformation each morning we wake up and it must be something worthy of the God we serve” and what His needs are. What we want to achieve today can no longer be about our vision but God’s vision. Our only goal must be the proclamation of the word of God to this generation.
In addition, we cannot preach a straight and narrow road to the kingdom that very few will find, if we have not found that road ourselves because our priority for what is important is now controlled by what the god of this world tells us what is important. My friends, If we are going to endure to the end it must become personal as we maintain a passion to serve and a vision of a new heaven and a new earth.
Amen!