ONce you realize that the Holy Spirit is with you, you can have immense confidence in telling people the Gospel message.
The Bible teaches that "The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes," and that work of God begins long before an individual ever hears. In my own case, it began in childhood, and I lost my early childhood beliefs as I became a teenager. Parents did not go to church. I never went, never even thought about it, but I used to read the Bible when I was a little tyke (5? 7? not very old), and I wanted to believe, but did not understand how, or what I needed to believe or do to become a Christian.
Nonetheless, the Bible teaches that "God has set eternity in our hearts," so that we long for something more than this life. There are people who have convinced themselves that "emptiness," "nothingness" is at the end of their life's journey, but that is not the case, and many who thought that have discovered differently.
The most important facts to know:
1. The Bible is the information source, but God also speaks to mankind, giving us desires that go beyond this world. He does so, as Jesus tells us in John 16, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who is THE messenger of God to us and everyone else. When you become a Christian (receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior), the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. He is an inseparable part of your life forever from that point, and He chooses YOU to speak for God. Read your Bible. Listen to the Spirit.
2. EVERYONE can be saved, but not everyone will. The Bible says that Jesus "took away the sin of the world," John 1:29, and that God gave His Son so that we might not perish, John 3:16-17. Peter says of the coming judgment that "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all might come to repentance," and that's why God withholds judgment on the earth for so long. Even in the Book of Revelation, where the theme is Jesus Christ's return to bless believers and judge those who reject Him, "a multitude that no man can number" become believers in Jesus Christ, despite the difficulties arrayed against them by the Antichrist.
3. Judgment is coming. It is. The Bible records multiple instances of God's Judgment, but the most important is what happens after we die. Hebrews 9:27 reads, "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." In other words, the next event after you die is judgment. Some, who have eternal life, will be exempt. Some will not. Jesus said, "He who hears my Word and believes in Him who sent me HAS everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."
4. You will escape judgment and live forever, if you believe in Jesus, because from the moment you believe, everlasting life is yours. This is a wonderful message. Most people count their years, and plan out their lives in some fashion or other. They know they have 70-100 years. The Christian has forever.
5. If you have never turned to the Lord Jesus, never called upon Him to be your Savior, you can do that right now. If you have, you can spend some time learning about your faith, and tell a friend about the marvellous gift of eternal life you have received.
6. The devil speaks to you, too. He says, "Keep your faith to yourself. Keep it a secret. Nobody wants to hear this, especially right now." It takes some effort to overcome that pressure, but you can do it.
God Bless you all. Tell a friend about Jesus and how He offers eternal life. Pray, then speak.
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