"And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said, 'I beg you, father, that you would send him to my fathers house, for I have five brothers, that he may tetify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, 'they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' "Annd he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
Luke 16: 26-31 NKJV
Recently I posed a question to my friend Dennis that I've been pondering for awhile. What if, by some circumstance, that person who first introduced me to the gospel of Jesus, had decided not to tell me? Where would I be today? Would somebody else have stepped forward to bring this message to me? Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus is a good example of someone who, although having the opportunity to know Jesus, chose not to do so. In this story we may just get a "before and after" of what happens when someone refuses to hear Gods message. This should be enough of a wake up call for people to want to know more about Jesus, but it isn't. For some time, it wasn't for me. Somehow, I don't think that God is into allowing someone to ride someones coat tails into Heaven. For this reason, we have Gods written word to bring us his message.
The trouble we get into is, like Lazarus, many of us sit idly by while others around us have not heard of Jesus. Yes, they have the bible, but apart from that, who will tell them of Jesus? For the longest time I had the mindset that I would gladly talk with someone about Jesus...if they approached me. Anyone see the problem with that way of thinking? How will someone who has NEVER heard the gospel of Jesus stop someone on the street and ask them about him? Hello Lazarus? I believe that we were never meant to hear the gospel and keep it to ourselves, if everyone did just that, how would the wonderful news of Jesus get in the hearts of others? Oh yeah, they have the bible to tell them! So, it would seem that those who know Jesus are given that opportunity to share him with others.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen
Matthew 28: 19-20 NKJV
All that Jesus had taught his disciples, he tasked them with sharing with the rest of the world. These men had walked, talked and learned from Jesus, so who better to tell others of his message of salvation? Those of us who have come to know the Lord Jesus also have that very same opportunity. Yeah, but these were his disciples that Jesus was talking to, right? Yes, but I also believe that Jesus is giving these instructions to all believers. If this were not true, then why have we put so much time and energy into "Discipleship" programs in our churches? Clearly someone, somewhere believes that Jesus was tasking all believers with telling the world about him. So the question remains, with a entire world of people who don't know Jesus, who will stand in the gap? What if that person who first shared Jesus with you had assumed that you would read about him in the bible? Would you have eventually found your way to his truth? I didn't, but maybe you're different than me. There's no doubt that the word of Jesus needs to reach our fallen world. If not from we who know him, then who?
~Scott~
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