General Articles

You Can Lead A Horse to Water :: By Jim Towers

Published on: by RR7

Most of us have heard the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” The same can be said for human beings. You can lead them to living water, but you cannot make them drink.

Jesus said, “But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). By that he meant that we all thirst for clarity, hope and consolation. Although we thirst for the life-giving water that He offers, many refuse to drink for one reason or another.

Although my friend Bill at the pier has let me give him countless rides home and let me pray for him, he doesn’t seem to be responding to my promptings and asks no questions. Maybe he thinks he’s something special because I always encourage, overlook a person’s foibles and treat them like a friend. Like I said in the past, Bill is a highly educated man and I respect him for that. Also, he was a drummer and writer for a music magazine back in the day (I enjoy talking to intelligent people), but like I said in my last article, I, in essence, called him a fool for not believing in God by quoting the scripture that says, “The fool has said in his heart: there is no God.”

There seems to be something about drug-addled liberals that take pride in not believing in God, and they let you know it. The next time we meet up, I will have to lay it all on the line once and for all, not knowing what to expect. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. Bill saw me yesterday from a distance walking out onto the pier, and he went around behind the snack bar to avoid bumping into me. I’ll just have to leave him in God’s hands as always.

As most of you know, I’ve been an evangelical Christian for many years and have led numerous people to faith in Christ. Unlike some who keep score, I never felt it was gaining me any brownie points in doing so, and I seldom if ever use the Roman Road tactic, but instead I rely on God’s prompting.

After receiving Christ, I made it a point to learn all I could about this living water, which for me was very gratifying. With this mindset, I’ve been able to lead all seven of my siblings to faith in Christ and mentor them in understanding scripture, since we were brought up in a broken home devoid of Godly things. I, being the eldest, had to set the pattern for right behavior even though I faltered at times. I even baptized my baby sister in the ocean when she thought she had cancer, which later proved to be malignant. She made her way to Florida from Michigan to have me baptize her after I led her to faith in Christ.

Today I found out that a nephew had just had an operation for stomach cancer, but the doctors couldn’t get it all taken out, so he will have to undergo chemotherapy. Amazingly, I had just been thinking about him this morning when I received the call from my “born-again” younger brother who had received Christ ten years ago after much prompting by me.

The first thing to enter my mind is – was this nephew saved? He claims to be a Christian, but although he doesn’t smoke, drink or use drugs and is a good man, I was skeptical since he never talked about God nor went to church. Knowing this, I phoned him at the hospital, but he was indisposed. Since he is over a hundred miles away and that region is in lockdown because of Covid 19, I had to leave him a message. I made it a priority that he should know how to be saved, step-by-step, and told him I would be praying for him. I’m sure he was glad to hear from me, since I’m his favorite uncle.

(At his urging, I had portrayed Fagin in the musical “Oliver” for his drama class in the new auditorium in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, for graduation. Everyone was elated that a professional would step into that role, in that place, and the whole town turned out. I received a standing ovation for the closing spotlight number. It was very gratifying for me too.)

In any case, I hope my nephew will receive Christ and that his children follow suit, but I have yet to hear back from him.

Yesterday was an unfruitful day, or so I thought. I had met a group of young people as I was preparing my gear to do some serious fishing and walked out onto the pier. After a few short minutes, I saw the young lady with a teenaged group coming my way. When she finally reached me, I said, “What are you doing out here by yourself?”

“They’re on the beach and swimming,” she said as she sauntered over to me.

“Looks like you just wanted to be alone with your thoughts,” I replied.

As she approached, I could tell something was bothering her, “Do you want to tell me about it; maybe there’s something I can do?”

“Nobody can do anything for me,” She whimpered as she began to cry.

“God can help you with anything.”

“My boyfriend dropped me yesterday – and I am deeply hurt.”

“Let me pray for you.”

“Please do,” she said as tears fell from her eyes.

I said a short prayer for the healing of her broken heart; and after a few minutes, she began telling me her life’s story – how that no one in her family had ever prayed for anything, that her grandmother was a Jehovah’s Witness, and that her boyfriend worked for the Lutheran church. I knew then that this was a spiritual battle, a divine appointment after I discerned what was happening. After talking awhile, she regained her composure. Now, I was concerned for the state of her soul.

“These are perilous times in which we live, and who knows what will happen next. Maybe even the rapture.”  I asked her about her spiritual life, and she said she had none. I told her about God and Jesus Christ and quoted scripture. Soon I asked if she would like to receive Christ as her Savior, and she replied, “Yes, but I’ve never prayed before and don’t know how.”

“Just repeat after me – if you feel led.” – Father in heaven, I confess that I have ignored you. Please forgive me. I now receive Jesus Christ into my heart and life, so change me and give me peace.”

YBIC

Jim Towers

You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com

Visit my webpage www.propheticsignsandwonders.com

Or visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com

 

Romans Lesson 32: Do You Have Beautiful Feet? :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR7

Chapter 10:14-21

“14How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

“18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ‘Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.’ 20 But Isaiah is very bold and says: ‘I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.’ 21 But to Israel he says: ‘All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’”

The Gospel is precious. It is all we have from the Lord, through Jesus, to be saved. Without it, we are all doomed and this is why there are so many counterfeit gospels. Satan has confused so many and polluted the plain and simple truth. Take, for example, the first sin of man in Genesis 3. Adam was given a simple directive. The Law, at that time, was one instruction – simply don’t eat from this particular tree. In the account, Satan calls into question God’s character, that He was holding out on them and they could chart their own destiny. They did not need God; they could be their own gods. They could do it without God. Look at where we have come in a short 6,000 years. I wonder what it was like the first time Adam and Eve said hateful words to each other or went to bed angry. What was it like to witness death for the first time, see a son murdered and suffer loss?

Satan always promises more than he can deliver, and God always delivers more than He promises.

We are in the same boat today. We have the simple and plain Gospel. Jesus paid it all! He is the author and finisher of our faith and there is nothing you can do other than humble yourselves, submit and trust in the work He has already completed for you. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, as he was led to write by the Holy Spirit in Ephesian 2: 8-10,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

We are saved by grace, only through faith that is given to us by God. We do not need to do works to be saved or to stay saved. We have no reason to boast, as we have no righteousness of our own. Once we have been saved, we are able to do ‘good works,’ not for salvation but as a result of salvation. All good works before salvation is of no value. Today we will look at a couple of points from the last part of Romans 10.

  • Beautiful Feet, verses 14-16

We often take feet for granted until they hurt. Anyone who has stubbed a toe or broken an ankle will attest to how useful our feet are. Some have fallen arches that hurt, and some have put on too much weight for their feet and they live in pain. Some people have hard-calloused feet that seem to defy any kind of pain. Others have delicate and sensitive feet that makes even a grain of sand in a shoe bothersome.

In Romans 10:14-16, we are told that those who carry the Gospel have beautiful feet. When I first got into the Missionary Baptist churches as a teenage boy, I saw firsthand the emphasis on sharing the Gospel. Not to say that I did not see it in my church growing up in Barbados, but I guess as a teenager I was better able to understand my responsibility for the Gospel and for others. The Great Commission, as it is often called, is found in Matthew 28: 18-20,

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

These were Jesus’ final words to the church there in Jerusalem. This command is repeated in different ways in Luke, Acts and other places, but the idea is that they, the persons He was addressing, were to carry the Gospel, the Good News, to everyone. In verse 19, we see the word ‘Go,’ and we often leave this to the professional Gospel carrier – the Pastors and the Missionaries. But a better rendering of the word ‘Go’ would be ‘as you are going.’ This is a command to any and all the saved. As we are going about our daily lives, we should be sharing the Good News of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, thus giving people the chance to be saved and become Jesus’ disciples. Are you and I doing that?

When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone? When was the last time you had a conversation about the Lord’s work in your life with someone who was not a Christian?

Let me ask a more basic question. Would you be able to walk someone through the Bible, show them their need for Jesus and then provide the way to be saved and become a disciple of Jesus? We take these things for granted, yet the vast majority of Christians today are not equipped to lead someone to Jesus, so let me help you. I had to learn this stuff in Evangelism class in seminary; our class consisted of some classroom work, but we spent hours knocking on doors and asking people if they knew Jesus as Saviour? Let me offer this as well. Once you know this stuff, you are responsible to God for it, and I promise you God will send you persons who need to hear the Gospel. God has people who are seeking right now, and He will send you seekers for you to show the way.

The Need: We are all sinners. Begin reading in Romans 3:10-18, 23 and you should memorize 3:10 and 23. You will see that there is none righteous – not one. All people on earth are sinners and this is the thing that separates them from God. Sin means to ‘miss the mark.’ Think about shooting an arrow and missing the bullseye. God is the bullseye. No matter how perfect we try to be, we always miss God’s standard of perfection because we are sinners. In verse 23, we see that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s perfection. As sinners, we deserve death. Romans 6:23 states that the wages of sin is death. Read the rest and memorize this verse as well. There is death in the world because of sin. Look at Genesis 3:21. God made coats of skin after man sinned. An animal or animals had to die to make coats of skin. Sin brings death, not just to man but to the whole of God’s creation. We taint everything we touch.

The Solution: God sent Jesus. Romans 5:1-8 states that we are justified in Jesus by God. This means we are declared righteous by God in Jesus. God provided a way of salvation because He loves us. Memorize Romans 5:8. God commendeth or showed His love for us in that while we yet were sinners, Christ died for us. God made a way for man to be saved, to be redeemed and to be reconciled to Him. Jesus is the Way. Memorize John 14:6. Read and know John 3:16-18.

The Plan: One has to acknowledge their sinfulness and put faith in Jesus and His work only to be saved.  Read and memorize Romans 10:9-10. Read Luke 23: 40-43 and notice one of the thieves on the cross admitted his sinfulness in verse 41 and then cried out to Jesus in verse 42. He is assured of salvation in verse 43. What is of great importance here is that Jesus does not stop proceeding to baptize the man. Salvation is not through works – not even the work of salvation. It is a gift from God, when one repents, to agree with God that you are a sinner and ask God to save you. He will do so every single time.

The Promise: Once you are saved it is forever. Read and know John 3:16. But Romans 8:1 is also important. There is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. There is no judgment, no punishment and no Hell. You have been declared righteous in Romans 5:1. In Jesus, and you are no longer under the wrath of God but a part of His family for eternity. The next step is to be properly baptized, by immersion, at a scriptural church that teaches the truth of God, and then you are to learn and repeat. That means that, as you are learning and living life, you are to be making disciples. This is how one gets beautiful feet.

  • Not everyone will hear, verse 17-21

No one likes rejection, but that is the nature of the Gospel. You should be mentally, physically and spiritually prepared for rejection. They rejected Jesus and they will often reject you. No one wants to hear that they are sinners and condemned to death before a Holy God. The Holy Spirit will lead you to people and people to you. Some will hear and accept gladly. Many others will reject the message and maybe hate you. They hated Jesus; they will hate you. We live in a time when people have been conditioned to believe that they do not have to answer to anyone and, as such, they think that there is no God to answer to. The Holy Spirit has to be the one to change them, not you.

Remember that they are rejecting God, not you. Don’t get mad. Rather, pray for them and ask God to open their eyes through His Holy Spirit so that they can see. In this passage, here in Romans 10, we are told that Israel is blind for a while, until our time (the time of the Gentiles) is finished. Some people will eventually see their need for Jesus, but there are many that won’t. They will choose Hell and reject Heaven. In the parable of the sower, in Matthew 13:1-23, the sower only had power over how much seed he sowed. Once the seed left his hand, everything else was out of his hands. As you are going, share the Good News of Jesus. This is all you have control over once the Gospel leaves you. After that, another has control over what happens.

It is hard to see people reject Jesus. I once had a client tell me that she may have been a Christian if she had met me earlier in life, but that she has been an atheist too long to change. I was able to give her daughter a copy of The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. I don’t know if she read it, but I gave her the Good News from a man who used to be an atheist. The good news for Israel is that one day soon God will return to dealing with them as a nation and they will get a chance to see Jesus face-to-face once again. One day soon, all those who rejected Jesus will humble themselves and address Him as Lord. One day soon, all those who accepted Jesus will see Him in His glory and we will rejoice with the billions of saved. We will shout enough to drown out the angels singing – the sound of the redeemed, the rejoicing of the saved, the adoration of a thankful multitude and the eternal service of a reconciled people.

Oh, what a day that will be when my Jesus returns! I shall look upon His face; the one who saved me by his grace. What a glorious day that will be! What a great song!

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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