And Saul was there, giving
approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the
church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout
Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul
began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and
women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word
wherever they went. [Acts 8:1-4, NIV]
Eddie Rickenbacker was a famous military
pilot during World War I. He was credited with shooting down 26 enemy airplanes
and was given the title "The American Ace" for his valiant fighting
during that war. He was also awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the
Distinguished Service Cross by the United States government.
Then in World War II in the South
Pacific in October 1942, while serving as a confidential adviser to the
Secretary of War concerning aircraft, his bomber was forced down. He and his
crew spent 24 days on a raft before being rescued. He wrote about this
experience in his book, Seven Came
Through. Eddie Rickenbacker and his comrades spent many days floating in
the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. They almost died for lack of food and
water. However, one day, almost miraculously, a sea gull landed on their raft.
They captured the bird and ate it. It gave them nourishment to last a little
while longer, long enough in fact to be rescued.
With a USA population of 320
million, there are over 208- million Americans afloat in the sea of lost souls,
faceless people whom the church of Jesus Christ has politely ignored. For the 35%
who have had a born again experience with Jesus Christ, only 25% (one out of
each four) will ever share the gospel with another person. I sadly say to the 208-million
lost Americans, the sea gull of hope is not coming. You have no hope of a
believer sharing Jesus with you.
Jesus taught us that hell is total
separation from God. It is an eternal dying torment without hope of the sweet
relief of death. It is a place of burning fire and brimstone. It is a place of
hatred, no friends; everyone is an enemy to the next person. It is a place of
torment worse than anyone could imagine, a place never intended for men, women,
and youth, but rather intended for Lucifer and his demons. Yet, millions of
people are going to this place because Christians, those truly born again, do
not care about the lost!
The only way to escape hell, and
experience life more abundant is through a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ. Did Jesus not say to Nicodemus, "You must be born again"? You
see friend, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills! He created the universe!
Everything that exists ultimately belongs to Him, but God does not have
grandchildren. For you see, you and I do not gain eternal life by our
genealogy, only through our birth into God's family. Salvation comes by a
birthing process; it is not an inherited right. It is not because your parents
or grandparents are saved. You must be born again. God must become your Father.
God can never be our grandfather.
I use an acrostic for the word
"gospel." If the lost are to be saved, believers must go openly
sharing and preaching, everywhere,
the love of God. Notice in our
Scripture, verse four tells us that those "who had been scattered preached
the word wherever they went." Now unless you think these were the apostles
whom Jesus had trained, let us move back up to verse one. Notice that the
Scripture states "and all except the apostles were scattered..."
The Scripture makes it clear, the
Christians of the early church proclaimed the gospel wherever they were
scattered. The notion that only preachers, pastors, and evangelist are to share
the gospel is unbiblical. The fact is that the Bible clearly teaches that you are
to be a witness for Christ. Second Timothy 4:5 teaches us that we are to “do
the work of an evangelist.” If you are not sharing Jesus, you are being
disobedient to the teaching of God's Word!
PRAYER: God, help me to do the work of an evangelist.
Forgive me of all the missed opportunities, and grant that my eyes and ears
might be attentive to every opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ. Give
me a passion for the lost. Give me a vision of hell, that I may know it is real
and seek to help other’s avoid this horrible place. God, help me to understand
that I am to do the work of an evangelist at all times, when I feel like it,
and when I do not feel like it, in every place wherever you take me. Help me
Lord to be obedient in this matter. Amen.
