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WHY CHRISTIANS…ARE DANGEROUS (4)

We Are On A Dangerous Mission Field

Our Foundational Text For This Series Comes From Acts 17:2-4
2. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.
3. Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
4. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

In Case You Are Keeping Score: Here is the overview of this series….
Part One: We Follow A Dangerous Savior
Part Two: He Left Us A Dangerous Gospel
Part Three: He Provided His Followers Dangerous Weapons
Part Four: To Reach A Dangerous Mission Field

Over the past few weeks, we have hit upon how Dangerous Jesus Christ was when he walked the earth and put forth the Word of God; then we hit upon the Gospel He left behind, and that the Apostles and now the Christian preaches to a lost and dying world, attempting to bring more and more people into the safety zone of Jesus Christ.

Last week, we hit upon the arsenal that Christ has left the Christian to preserve him to get the job done…not only to reach the Sinner, but to edify and uplift and if need be remind the Saint that we are on borrowed time.

Again…I MUST Say--If you ARE NOT a Christian, you cannot use the Lord’s power! ACTS 19:14-20

Now we come to the end of this series, The Dangers of the Mission Field for the Christian…

Brothers and sisters who are IN Christ, make NO mistake about it…we are pilgrims in THIS world; and judges in the world to come through Christ Jesus.

But…what TYPE of Mission Field has the Lord placed us in? Why is the message of the Gospel held to be so dangerous? Why are Christians So Dangerous in these last days?

To put is simply, we are the visible, tangible, and authorized versions of the FACT that the Word of God WORKS!!!!

*Revelations 12:11--And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

It is HARD for the WORLD to understand that there is not only ANOTHER way to ‘its’ gospel…but a BETTER way through Jesus Christ.

Now, the World will acknowledge the Christian religion…but NOT the Christian RELATIONSHIP! The world ‘believes’ in prayer healing folk, but it does NOT ‘truck’ with the one who provides the power behind the healing, that being Jesus Christ and the power of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

The World ‘believes’ in the results of the Gospel; the blind healed, families and marriages restored, the lame walking, the criminal offering restitution rather than excuses, whoremongers, adulterers, the effeminate delivered from countless means of sins….BUT the World does NOT want to give honor to God for the saving AND delivering power of Jesus Christ through the Word.

I’ll go even further….

The World does not even want to admit that those IN Christ have a non-dirty sense of humor:

*Acts 13:52--And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

In Christ, EVEN our sense of humor is SUSPECT by the World!

I don’t have to go to a comedy club.
I don’t have to watch a BET or CMT or the Kings of Comedy.
I don’t even have to read the jokes in Penthouse, Playboy or Hustler.
I can rest in Christ…and study the situation comedy known as Real Life 101, and laugh at it…even when it hurts; even when things may not be funny; even when tragedy strikes.

Back in the early 1980s, I happened to be watching a live broadcast of President Reagan when he was leaving a hotel to go to another location when he was shot at by a madman in the crowd. President Reagan was rushed to the hospital…and his wife came to the facility. Everybody around him was tense, but the President, being the wise married man that he was…comforted his wife with the following:

“Honey…I guess I forgot to duck!”

Here was a man who was hated by the press, hounded by his political enemies, and even believed to be the devil incarnate by some who protested his policies…but when the test came, there was enough class in him to be carried through…

I’ve got three examples from the news for this next section of my communiqué from the throne of grace…

See…the world has PLENTY of answers…but few solutions that are realistic to the Christian. For example…the world system believes that crime does NOT pay, but does NOT believe in holding criminals to proper account, nor adequate time behind bars. This country JUST OUTLAWED the death penalty in the mid-1970s, found that the ban did NOT work, re-instated it, and is NOW talking about banning it…again!!

The Bible, in Romans 13 holds that it IS biblical for the state to execute murderers! It IS biblical for those who break the laws of society to DO TIME!

What is the World’s response????

Well, in Japan, where there are literally hundreds of different gods, in the last week…since they are not tough on crime, now citizens can keep ‘disguises’ with them in order to ‘shield’ themselves from criminals. Years ago, in THIS country, I recall hearing that it was considered ‘right’ for folk to carry ‘extra’ money to give to street muggers and hoods.

Now…if you DO NOT believe in the gospel’s power to transform lives; if you want to stamp out all vestiges of Jesus Christ, then the alternative is to ‘believe’ in the world’s programs…and carry some money for the muggers we won’t ‘allow’ the police to arrest…even though we are paying higher taxes for incoming cops, and higher pensions for the outgoing cops.

We have more education…knowledge has increased exponentially…we’ve got kids in school that can’t read, but they can run video games which have moves and complexities I can barely keep up with.

However…the most video gifted child; the most computer literate child…in far too many cases CAN NOT address a letter with a pen, nor compose a brief thank you note to a relative who bought them that computer.

Now…if you DO NOT believe in the gospel’s power to increase wisdom and respect in children, teens, and students, then the alternative is to ‘believe’ in the world’s programs, and let these functional illiterates be socially promoted and morally debased. It’s ‘wrong’ to try to teach a child morality in school, but it’s O.K. to bring birth control to 11-13 year old girls, and allow female school teachers to have sex with 11-13 year old boys, eh?

Last one…

Modern street gangs, or MSGs, are roaming the streets of many cities around the world! Now, the church, in many cases, has agreed with the world to ‘butt out’ of preaching the gospel to them, and encouraging them to live upright lives and get out of that nonsense….

Listen to me church! I’m going somewhere with this!

We’re wrapping up this series…Why Christians Are Dangerous…with this fourth installment; We are Serving On a Dangerous Mission Field…. Church…Christian…when you ‘surrender’ to the world system, THIS is what you get…

Slaughter
Death
Rape and Ruin
Bangers roaming the streets at will, and who know the criminal justice system BETTER than those who run it!

Lack of fear OF being caught…because the world system will ONLY let the police ‘work’ the big cases…and let hundreds of little ones slip through the cracks…to feed and fester and ‘eventually’ become big cases!

Anyway…NOW…since churches ‘stopped’ demanding that teens who come to church dress like they’ve got some sense, and that their parents supervise them properly, and that traditional singing is better than having services ‘hooked up’ with a ‘hip hop track’ to ‘entertain’ the congregation and allow teen members to flash their ‘signs and colors’…we’ve got MSGs in every major city, suburb, rural area, and hamlet across the world!

OK…so…world…we were stupid enough to listen to you and ‘not’ evangelize. Here’s your sign…you have a crime rate that is out of control, and…until churches do THEIR job…and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ…there will be MORE drama, mama!

Amen…Lights.

Now, God is attempting to get the world’s attention by Katrina, wildfires, droughts, murder, mayhem, and crooked politicians…Wars, rumors of wars, international pedophile rings, and drug trafficking…

The WORLD…is NOT listening…

Thus…the Christian is confronted with a dangerous mission field for the gospel to be spread.…

What IS the gospel?

That Jesus Christ died for the sins of men, women, and children; he got up from a borrowed tomb on the third day, was seen of witnesses, and ascended up to heaven for EACH of US in this ROOM because God so LOVED the WORLD that he GAVE his only begotten SON….

Christ WANTS you BACK on his TEAM…backslider;

Christ WANTS you ON his TEAM…sinner;

Christ WANTS you to REPENT and ACCEPT his example…outsider;

REPENT is one of those terms we don’t stress anymore; like ‘Hell’, or ‘Eternal Damnation’. REPENT means to TURN YOUR BACK ON THE SIN THAT YOU ARE DOING!

Not only with your hands, but with your mind!

Paul…in the text of this message…confronts those who are on Mars Hill in Athens with their philosophy, but also with their ‘butt covering’ provision of their philosophy…

See…the World has great plans…but lousy preparation.

Nevertheless, the simplicity of the gospel escapes the ‘learn-ned’ minds of science, academia, government and the military. “More taxes will solve everything…and the band played on!” Temptations…Ball of Confusion…Motown Records.

The world system ALWAYS has a butt covering provision in its philosophy;

“Well…if it REALLY goes bad…we can turn to (what’s left) of the (true) church….we can ‘tell’ God that we ‘still’ believe in you…when our efforts have failed, and we are too stupid to recognize his judgments….”

Remember 911? Another IS coming….

BUT….the world says….it’ll be business as usual once the danger passes!

This is why the gospel is dangerous…
This is why Christians are dangerous…
This is why we need those weapons provided by God
This Is why the Apostle Paul was a dangerous man…fueled by Christ
The gospel does NOT have a ‘butt covering provision’.
You must BE BORN AGAIN!!!!

BECAUSE THE WORLD WON’T HEAR WHAT WE SAY…
IT IS UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL TO TAKE ACTION…To Be Saved
IT IS UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL TO TAKE ACTION…To Be Saved
The Apostle did get SOME converts from the Mars Hill discourse…but he was at risk for the ones that he did get!

Church, we are always at risk from the world…because the world looks and lives for the EASY button; the butt covering provision; the plea bargain; the art of the deal…and they will try to lock up and/or KILL the Christian…

In my OWN life…I’ve got a son named Phillip whom I love very much. His mother, my ex wife has custody of him…won’t let me see him…hasn’t let me seen him or his siblings enough to do the good I’d like to do…even though the child support checks keep on coming…and have kept on coming…

Amen…Lights…

She has rejected the gospel…the siblings have rejected the gospel…so far.

Now my son stands a very good chance of going to prison…for a number of years, and yes he did have an extensive juvenile record.
Now, the world says that…I have no right to preach the gospel…
God says…PREACH ON…because someone whom I want to hear, will hear.
The Apostle Paul…killed Christians by the score before he was converted…now he’s got converts by the scores…and trouble from those whom he left behind to preach the gospel…as we have detailed in Acts 17.

The world says…Paul…you have no right to preach the gospel… God says…PREACH ON…because someone whom I want to hear, will hear.

What am I saying here?

NO matter what the world says…Christian…it may be dangerous…it may be hurtful…you may have issues of your own…but PREACH ON…

PREACH ON…because I have saved you…saith the Lord
PREACH ON…because I will protect you…saith the Lord
PREACH ON…because out of the madness…YOU heard me…saith the Lord.
PREACH ON…because there ARE more….who will hear…and be saved.
PREACH ON…BECAUSE Jesus Christ is real…
Christian…no matter HOW it may LOOK…PREACH ON…and GIVE them my WORD…just like I gave YOU!

Remember the slogan of THE FORWARD CHURCH SOULS OUR SPECIALTY: DANGER IS OUR BUSINESS!!!

I have qualified you…saith the Lord
I have sanctified you…saith the Lord
I have forgiven you…saith the Lord
Now…RUN with that…and PREACH ON…

Don’t despise the size of your mission field, or the gifts you don’t have, or the money you don’t have, or the folk in your family who think you are crazy…or the fact that no body knows about your ministry…or has not contributed towards it. PREACH ON…even if other Christians are NOT able to comfort you or bless you or even acknowledge you….

And…see what the END will BE!