WIW: Evangelism: Don't be a bucket.
"O, if you have the hearts of Christians, let them yearn toward your poor ignorant ungodly neighbors. Alas, there is but a step betwixt them and death and hell. Many hundred diseases are waiting ready to seize on them, and if they die unregenerate, they are lost forever. Have you hearts of rock that cannot pity men in such a case as this? If you believe not the Word of God and the danger of sinners, why are you Christians yourselves? If you do believe it, why do you not bestir yourself to the helping of others? Do you not care who is damned as long as you are saved? If so, you have sufficient cause to pity yourselves, for it is a frame of spirit utterly inconsistent with grace. Dost thou live close by them...or meet them in the streets...or labor with them...or travel with them...or sit and talk with them and say nothing to them of their souls or the life to come? If their houses were on fire, thou wouldst run and help them and wilt thou not help them when their souls are almost at the fire of hell?" ~Richard Baxter (cited in I.D.E. Thomas, ed., A Puritan Golden Treasury [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977], 92)
"The Jews lived under the illusion that God had saved them for their own sake and not for the sake of the world. They thought themselves to be a cul-de- sac rather than a thoroughfare, a bucket rather than a channel. Their view of themselves was that God saved us and we have now become the apple of His eye, we are His very favorite people and don't let anybody else from the Gentile world horn in on our exclusivity." ~John MacArthur
6 comments:
Those are both powerful and thought-provoking.
The final paragraph - I soo see that attitude in my church. Ouch. Have a nice Monday and thanks for dropping by my nook. I appreciate it.
Hmmm...these are serious words that are making me wonder if I'm a cul-de-sac. Do I "not care who is damned as long as I am saved?" Me and mine anyway? I don't want to live "inconsistent with grace." Thanks, Bobbi, for the very convicting words!
I like that second quote a lot! It reminds me of a comparison between the life-giving Sea of Galilee (with water running IN and OUT of it) and the Dead Sea (with water only running into it and no exit).
Thanks for the inspiration! I'm going to go see who I can pour some water onto (not literally, of course...although my boys would certainly get a kick out of that!). :)
My pastor preached a sermon about that very subject recently and it has been heavy on my mind. Thank you for sharing this reminder.
Both thought provoking quotes. I would rather be a channel. I pray that I live my life that way!
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