Questions in this episode: – Why don’t we worship the Holy Spirit like we do the Father and the Son? – What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? – How can I discern when to keep sharing the gospel when someone is rejecting it? – What is the significance of Jesus being the …
We must diligently keep investing in all that is important to God, faithfully and wisely dealing with people, and rightly handling God’s word until the work of the church is done.
As we seek to proclaim the gospel and uphold, defend and establish the truth of God’s word, it is helpful to remember that God has implanted a witness to the truth within each person’s heart. While those who don’t want to hear our message may protest, the reality is that…
We can expect non-Christians to often misunderstand the gospel message, but that should only motivate us to passionately and strategically clarify the truth.
Rejection hurts. And unfortunately our Christianity increases the likelihood that we will encounter it more often. Part of the cost of “taking up our cross” and “following Jesus” is the harsh reality of “bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb.13:13). As Jesus himself said: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (Jn.15:18). It is a vain hope…
We shouldn’t be surprised at pushback from people when we faithfully deliver the gospel, because God always uses it for the unpleasant work of exposing sin and guilt before he uses it to save.
In the work of reaching people with the gospel we should expect painful betrayals and apostasies, but we should never lose heart, knowing God is working through us to advance his kingdom just as he planned.
Because our alliance with Christ will be tested with some sort of persecution or difficult, we must resolve ahead of time to be loyal to him knowing God will provide real-time strength and support.
We must understand the reason people respond in a hostile way toward the truth, prayerfully and lovingly warning of the multiplied consequences of rejecting it.
We need to be discerning in our evangelism, knowing when to move on and understand the gravity of the situation when we have to.
We must be prepared to incur the kind of rejection Christ and the Apostles regularly encountered, knowing that it is not our job to retaliate but to seek peace and entrust ourselves to a just God.