The Nugget:
Pro_23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
My Comment:
Ezra Pound once said or wrote, “Literature is news that stays news.” Thomas DeQuincey wrote an outstanding essay in the nineteenth century that discussed two kinds of literature: the literature of knowledge, and the literature of power. He pointed out that the “literature of knowledge” soon goes out of date, because new information has come to light which makes the old information either invalid or no longer useful. The “literature of power” never goes out of date and never needs to be revised, like the works of Shakespeare and the Bible. That is why the Bible is news that stays news. It is more up-to-date than next month’s news headlines.
We ought not to forget the message of some of our great hymns and gospel songs. To forget them is to remove the old landmark, much to our great loss. We ought to still be singing them. They are better by far than any of the supposedly modern or contemporary music now used in some of our churches. Let me share the words of just two hymns you need to learn, pray, and follow. Based squarely on Scripture, they can change your outlook and your life.
1. LEAD ME TO SOME SOUL
In memory of D. L. Moody, who said, “I must speak to one soul each day about Christ.”
Lead me to some soul today,
O teach me Lord, just what to say;
Friends of mine are lost in sin,
And cannot find their way.
Few there are who seem to care,
And few there are who pray;
Melt my heart and fill my life.
Give me one soul today.
2. TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY
Take time to be holy,
Speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always,
And feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children;
Help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing
His blessing to seek.
Do you know how to lead a soul to Christ? In order to lead a person to Christ you need to learn several Bible verses to share with them. I would suggest you consider sharing the following verses which you would find it helpful to learn by heart. Learn both the words and the “address,” that is, Bible book name, chapter number, and verse number. Knowing these verses by heart makes it possible to share them anywhere, anytime, even if you do not have a Bible with you.
The first verse I recommend that you consider is a verse of motivation for yourself. It is Romans 1:16,
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We should never be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Other people feel free to talk about what they are interested, even deeply interested in. You should feel free to talk about your faith in Christ and how another person can come to have that same faith.
The Gospel of Christ is the power of God. It does not depend upon how skilled or persuasive you are. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God, not the power of you or me! And it is powerful, because it changes lives, and brings individuals into a right relationship to God and to Christ.
The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. What does it take for a person to be truly saved? They need to come to the place where they believe the Gospel of Christ.
Just who can be saved? Everyone who believes.
What is it that a person must believe in order to be saved? Paul tells us that in Romans 10:9, 10.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The person who really believes in Jesus Christ will confess or declare with their mouth that Jesus is their Lord. A person who really believes in Jesus Christ believes the record of what the Bible tells us about Jesus Christ, particularly that God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus rose bodily from the dead by the power of God. This we call the bodily resurrection from the dead. Only bodies die physically, so only bodies are raised physically. Jesus was not raised a mere “spirit creature” as some false cults and teachers claim.
Lastly, notice what Jesus Himself said about these matters in John 5:24.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Jesus says whoever keeps on hearing his word and keeps on believing on him [God] that sent him, now has or better, is having everlasting life. Anyone who keeps on hearing and believing shall not come into condemnation or judgment, but has been passed from death unto life. That is the promise of Christ, and I have paraphrased the verse to reflect the meaning of the underlying Greek verbs to emphasize the necessity of continuing belief, and continuing hearing required to receive the promised benefit. Notice especially that Jesus declares that you can have eternal life starting now in this life, even today. You do not have to wait until you get to heaven to find out if you have everlasting life, as some false churches and cults teach. The Bible plainly declares that you can have eternal life now, and you can positively be sure that you know that you have eternal life in the here and now (1 John 5:13).
Jesus emphasized that those who believe on Him must continue in His word (John 8:31, 32). Today, that means continuing to read His Word found only in the Bible. If you are not reading the Bible regularly, even daily (Acts 17:11), you can hardly consider yourself continuing in His word. How can you continue in His Word if you don’t take time to read it? You can’t. Don’t fool yourself. To grow spiritually, you must regularly read the Bible. The Bible is our spiritual food (1 Peter 2:2). Just like we must take time to eat regularly every day to stay healthy (Job 23:12; Jeremiah 15:16), so spiritually we must spend time reading the Bible daily. I recommend spending 20 minutes a day reading from the New Testament. Some days you might just get in only five minutes, but give yourself more than 20 minutes on days when you have the opportunity. To get time to read God’s Word, cut out some of the time you spend watching TV or other mass media. Make your time count for eternity by using it wisely on the best and most important things.
By the way, the content of this post is what we talked about at lunch today in my home. Talking to those who are in the proverbial “choir” will hopefully motivate them to share their faith with others when they are with people outside of home or church who are not in the “choir”!
Thank you, Chris, for reading my post and for writing a comment! I wish more people would read here and write a response or raise a question!