Reaching Out to the Lost. Two Sides to the Same Coin

All scripture references are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
There is a burden for the lost that is in the heart of every Christian. It is prompted by the Bible account of the Samaritan woman at the well found in John 4, specifically verse 35 where Jesus told His disciples, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." The Lord had just met the woman of Samaria at the Well of Sychar while His disciples went into the city to get something to eat. When they returned they found the Lord in conversation with the woman. While the woman went into the city to tell her acquaintances of having found the Messiah the disciples urged Jesus to eat. But the Lord told them in verse 32 "I have meat to eat that ye know not of."  Jesus said in verse 34, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." It is in this setting that we find verse 35. That, I believe, is the primary source of the Christian's desire to reach out to the lost.

But there are two sides to every coin. For sure we as Christians know, that "God is love!" In 1st John 4:8b the Bible says, "...God is love." The fact that God is love is certainly one side of the proverbial coin. Thank God for the Apostle Paul's writings in Ephesians 2:4-6 where he said, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Wonderful words of hope!

But there are two sides to every coin. I remember, years ago, when our children were small, speaking to a Baptist minister who had come to our home to sell us some children's records. Our desire was to be a witness of the goodness of God to him and we got into a discussion of scriptures. He stated that he believed in the doctrine of eternal security. When we referenced several scriptures, such as 2nd Corinthians 6:9-10, or Galatians 5:19-21 and others of a similar vein, his response was that there were more scriptures in favor of his side that there were of mine. He went on to tell my wife and I that he believed that since he was saved, he could go out, get drunk, find a woman and commit adultery with her, get a gun and come and kill us, then kill himself and go straight into the arms of Jesus. I have mentioned to someone when relating this story that while what he said is not true it does make good preaching materiel.

Let me say that the Bible says in 2nd Thessalonians 1:7-9 that "...the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power..." It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 2:15-16, "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" The same gospel message is to those who will receive it the sound of salvation and to those who reject it the sound of death. Who indeed is sufficient for these things?

Perhaps you who are reading this blog have never accepted the gospel message. If so, let me encourage you to repent of your sins today. Don't put it off. Find someone to baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the remissions of sins in your life. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit as He did those early believers on the Day of Pentecost, (See Acts 2:1-4 and Acts 2:38-40). You will never regret your choice. If on the other hand you choose to go your own way, rejecting the love and mercy of God I warn you that you will be eternally sorry.