Can I tell you a couple of true stories?
Years ago I was preaching the gospel in a place called Memot. I thought my sermon was pretty good because I used the preaching of one of the world's greatest preachers, the Apostle Paul, as my guide. I was using Paul's sermon at the Areopagus in Athens in Acts 17. I preached from it but I didn't realise it at the time that this wasn't the most successful of Paul's sermons. Years later the Lord showed me that very few people actually received Jesus that day and that as Paul travelled from Athens to Corinth the Lord taught him and when he arrived in Corinth he could later write,
'For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.' [1 Corinthians 2: 2 - 5]Paul, that day in Areopagus, debated Jesus on the basis of his not inconsiderable intellect with a bunch of intellectuals but the Lord showed him a better way as he walked towards Corinth. No condemnation, just the gentle staff of the Good Shepherd.
So I used Paul's ineffective sermon on Mars Hill as my guide that day at Memot and it got to a point where I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to ask the people to respond to Him. So I asked them if they would receive Jesus. Not one person moved! Nothing! If someone had dropped a pin, except for the fact the floor was the ground outside, it would have sounded like someone had rung the Big Ben bell!
What happened then felt like it took hours but was in fact only a few seconds.
I said to God, "Thanks very much! You bring me here to make me look like a fool!" His response? "Graeme, you can preach all you like but one thing I want you to know is that you do the preaching, but I DO THE SAVING. Now ask them again." So I asked again and hundreds rose up to receive Jesus. The time that had elapsed between the first asking and the second was only a few seconds at most (although it seemed like an eternity to me) and only the Holy Spirit could have effected that shift in that time. I do the preaching but He does the saving.
You know the name of Jesus is enough. It isn't based in our carefully crafted sermon. I was asked to preach to 205 prisoners in a prison in Cambodia. I was given a very difficult restriction of two minutes to speak - very difficult for me! I have many words! I said that I felt I had many things I needed to say but all I had time for is this and I raised up my hand and I said, "JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, JESUS. If you will receive this Jesus raise up your hand." Two hundred and five prisoners raised their hand to receive Jesus!
More recently I was in Cambodia and I was speaking with some children. You can see a picture of the day I speak of as the cover photo on my Facebook page. As I shared Jesus with the children they willingly received the gift of God. As they did the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. I was preaching here and having a conversation with God there, at the same time. He said to me, "You ask them to receive Me but I want you to know that I RECEIVE THEM." I was stunned with the beautiful simplicity of the truth. He is the faithful One, not us. If our salvation rested in the quality of our faith then we are doomed! But it doesn't. It rests in His faithfulness. Hallelujah! I was reminded of this again when I was asked to share with a bunch of children at my old primary school in Dorrigo. I showed the children a picture of me blessing children in Cambodia. I asked them if I could pray with them in the same way and they readily agreed. I was praying and the Lord stopped me and said, "Now ask them to receive Me." I was hesitant but I obeyed. I said something like this, "If I hold out a gift to you what must you do?" One girl answered that they must take it. Good answer! I went on, "God is holding out a gift today, His name is Jesus Christ, and if you will receive Him then put up your hand." A number of children did so and we prayed. As I prayed with them the Lord reminded me of that day in Cambodia. Those Dorrigo child may not walk in that moment for much of their life but who are we to say that their response was meaningless when He is the faithful One. Does He forget? Not a chance! Later I was meditating in John 10 and here it says this,
Jesus speaking, '"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand."' [John 10: 27 - 28]I could say much but what impacted me were these two statements - there are no misplaced and inadvertent words in the Bible!
- I KNOW THEM.
- No one will snatch them FROM MY HAND.
I can hear Him speak even now, "You can preach all you like but I DO THE SAVING."
And, "You ask them to receive Me but I RECEIVE THEM."
My sheep they hear My voice and I know them...and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
I know them.
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