February 19, 2011

Read Daniel 31-27. Daniel 3:28-30

A poem starts with a truism that we rarely think about. It reads, ‘I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day’.  From a non Christian perspective this is absolutely and undeniably true. A non believer will often cringe even at the thought of hearing someone preach at them. But when they see the sermon lived out and put into practice they are inevitably drawn to think of Christ Jesus. It is through acting out the Word, applying it, that people come to know Christ (but please don’t hear me negate the need to speak of Jesus - the two go hand in hand).

It was through the trusting action of the three believers in Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar gave praise to God. Think  about world history and you see the same pattern. Read Acts 8 and you see the church growing through persecution as believers trust the Lord and continue to live for him. China has thousands of people coming to Christ every day.  This incredible situation was preceded by the faithful few trusting God and living for Him, even being willing to die for Him.   The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church.  In India we are seeing more and more come to the Lord in growing numbers each year. Why? Because the faithful have lived lives of trusting God and have refused to deny Christ. In 2010 the church in Nigeria grew immensely because the faithful trusted God in the midst of immense and terrible persecution. Africa has witnessed the same pattern.

The truth is clear. The Word of God was never meant to be hidden and covered. When we hear the Word of God we are to put it into practice, no matter what the cost to ourselves. It is this kind of trust and faith that shows the world we are serious about Jesus. It is his kind of trust and faith that draws people to Christ Jesus for salvation. It is this kind of trust and faith that will change this nation of Australia from a hedonistic, unbelieving nation to a God fearing nation. You and I have a vital role to play in this transformation. We need to live for God. We need to put God at the top of our priority list and we need to live for Him and Him alone. We need to start jumping up and down and making a noise when the world ridicules Him, mocks Him and discards Him as irrelevant. We need to show the world the love of Christ by the purity and reverence and generosity of our lives.

Prayer:

þ Pray that our church gathering motivates and inspires each one of us to be out in the world making disciples for Jesus each and every day this week. Ask God to transform us so that we are a holy people, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God that we might declare the praises of him who called us out darkness into his wonderful light.

þ Pray for 3 non Christians you know. Pray that God would give you opportunity to share your faith with them, to offer them the gospel and to walk them into the Kingdom through  repentance and faith.