''If ye love me, keep my commandments'' John 14:15.
One of the greatest commands of the Saviour to all his true followers is to preach the Gospel (Good News) to sinners, unbelievers and backsliders. The Gospel Message according to John three sixteen is For God so loved the world, that he gave his Only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not Perish, but have Everlasting Life. Many a time, the Holy Spirit do whisper into believers' ears, urging them to help sinning and wounded souls who have only few days to live on earth. But often than not, believers turn deaf ears and walk away just like the priest and Levite who neglected the wounded soul in the parable of Good Samaritan which the Lord Jesus narrated (Luke 10:25-37).
Disobedience to the preaching of Gospel is a great sin before God and many Christians would miss Heaven for failing to preach the Gospel and to demonstrate the love of Christ in practical lifestyle of holiness (in speech, dressing, actions & relationships) ''When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou giveth him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from the wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand'' Ezekiel 3:18.
Was he a ghost? Please, patiently and kindly read through the true life encounter of the writer with a wounded soul.
Sometime in the year 2015, I was on my way home from a school in the Northern part of my country, where I taught students Chemistry. On the narrow path leading to the street of abode, I sighted a dreadlock young man of my age mate sitting in front of a bushy unroofed building. His appearance (dirty long hair, reddish eyes, dried lips and scaly dark skin) was quite intimidating. I could instantly infer from the distance that he was a chain smoker, drug addict, alcoholic, humanizer and ruffian. The Holy Spirit gently whispered to me to approach him and tell him about Jesus while the evil spirit instilled fear into my heart; warning me not to go and risk my life. Indeed, there was a serious battle in my spirit mind. I stopped and flipped through the Bible in my hand to see if I could see a tract to give the young man but I could not find. I prayed to God to just minister to him by Himself, then walked away. As I was almost reaching home, the voice of the Holy Spirit became so strong in me that I had no choice than to stop. '' If I died, I died'', I said. I went back and approached the young man in fear.
''Good afternoon sir! I am so sorry for coming to disturb you sir. Please, can you spare me some minutes to discuss with you the word of God?'' All these I uttered in fear but to my greatest surprise the young man welcomed me with a calmly and soothing voice. ''Oh! Thank God for obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit to minister the words of salvation to this depressed and wounded soul'', I said from my heart. With boldness, I started the salvation message with the Bible reference 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ''Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy...''.
I told him true and plain that our bodies belong to God; and taking alcoholic drinks and illicit drugs, smoking, bleaching, humanizing, putting on seductive make up, tattooing and having long hairs as a man is destroying the temple of God. And God will destroy any one who destroys His temple in hell. I made him to understand that God sent Jesus into the world not to condemn anyone but to rescue sinners from sin and hell and to beautify everyone's life on earth. ''All what I said were true but he has not seen from the Bible where God forbid tattoo and long hair for man'' He said with more emphasis on long hair.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit. Everything I inferred from his physical appearance was truth as he made open confession of his bad lifestyle while on campus. I opened the book of Leviticus 19:28 and read to his hearing ''Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD''. I also opened 1 Corinthians 11:14 and handed him my Bible to read to our hearings. ''Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?''. He was shocked and voiced out with deep conviction that it was the first time of seeing this in the Bible. That was the last scriptural verse that led to his conversion. After leading him to Christ, he promised to barb his hair and to forsake evil ways. I collected his phone number for proper follow up; and also described the location of my district church to him despite fully aware that he came all the way from far place to where I met him.
As days, weeks and months passed by, I never saw the young man again. I dialed his mobile line on several occasions but always with the voice response ''not available at the moment''. It was one Sunday morning immediately after the worship service that a handsome young man standing outside one of the frontal entrance door beckoned on me from the Choir seats to come out. His face shone brightly that I found it difficult to behold directly into his eyes, and he was holding a brand new white back covered Bible.
''Do you remember me?'', he said. ''I don't remember you'', I replied. He asked me the second and third time to try and recall but I could not. ''I am Percy, the brother with dreadlock whom you ministered the word of salvation to in front of an uncompleted building. I could not believe that I was talking with real Percy whom now has a shining countenance and low cut hair. The joy couple with a little fear made me short of words. I went back to my seat after exchanging pleasantries. '' Could it be a ghost and did anyone see me talking with someone?''. These were the thoughts on my mind. To confirm he was not a ghost, I quickly rose to have a second glance at him as he would walk out of our large church premises; but nowhere to be found. I recalled I still have his mobile line; dialed his line but not reachable. I continued dialing his line even up till the very present moment of putting this narrative into writing.
Was he a ghost? Whether he was a ghost or not, the most important question that every one living now should soberly reflect on is ''where would I spent eternity when I died?'' The sad truth is that a sinner who died in sin will spend eternity in lake of fire. An unbeliever who does not believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the world will spend eternity in lake of fire. A backslidden Christian who deviates from the way of holiness, and too busy to preach the gospel would shockingly find himself/herself in hell.
There were two thieves crucified on both sides of Jesus, who knew they would turn ghosts that horrible day. One humbly requested a new life from Jesus while the other one failed to ask Jesus for mercy but railed at him. The one with broken heart that believed Jesus is the Saviour became the first convert at Calvary to enter paradise with Jesus while other thief went straight to hell. As a sinner, unbeliever or backslidden Christian, why will you not ask Jesus for mercy and new life now? Jesus is a lesson to you standing Christian. Despite the pain and agony Jesus was subjected to on Cross of Calvary, he still demonstrated God's love and saved souls. You don't have any excuse for not obeying Jesus' command to save others with the message of salvation. You can save souls through your social media platform, giving of tracts, conversation and through practical lifestyle of holiness.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and message of salvation. I acknowledged that I am a sinner and disobedient child. Have mercy upon me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Save me, sanctify me and grant me the grace to be an effective soul winner for Christ, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
MORE GRACE TO CONTINUE IN NEW LIFE
Site: http://wordpreacher.blogspot.com
Email: wordreacher@gmail.com
Fellowship: Prayerfully locate a Bible believing church and become an active member
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