September 21, 2017
Being a Thankful Ambassador
A wonderful man of God, who I knew personally back in 1980 and 1981 once told me that a mature Christian should have three ‘hot’ teachings ready on the top of his head at all times. What he meant by ‘mature ‘ was one who was not only born again of God’s spirit, but who also understood the working of the gift of holy spirit. That would include the new birth from Romans 10:9 and 10, the manifestations of the spirit as listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, and an understanding of the hope of Christ’s return as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:52-54.
There is so much more, but if you understand these three areas, you will be equipped to be a wonderful representative of God’s Word!
In 2 Corinthians 5:19 and 20 we are told, “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
This tells us that we’ve been given the word of reconciliation and as such, we are to be ambassadors (representatives) for Christ! God would never have had this written if we were not able to do it. Once you are born again, with Christ in you, you should want more than anything in the world to be able to share it with others, so that they in turn, can have the same deliverance that you’ve enjoyed.
The world gets very wrapped up in trying to accomplish things. It’s ok to accomplish things, to be productive, but to what end? What is the profit?
In Acts 10, there was a certain man named Cornelius, who was a military leader and had a lot of influence in the area in which he served. Verse 2, tells us that he was a devout man who feared God with all his house. He had a lot of worldly things going for him, and yet he loved God and so did his household.
God sent the Apostle Peter into his life later in the chapter to witness to him and to share with him the word of reconciliation. Peter was an equipped believer and he could have been lazy with God’s revelation to him, but God usually doesn’t give revelation to lazy people. Peter acted and went, and in verse 33, Cornelius tells him, “Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.” What a wonderful, humble man! He must have been very thankful for the things that God had done for him and how He had blessed his life and household.
You ask to what end? Look at Verses 44-46: “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them all which heard the word [the word of reconciliation]. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”
Peter first spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost and here were these believers of Cornelius’ household speaking in tongues and magnifying God. This means believers should speak in tongues! It is God’s will! And make no mistake, the Devil will go out of his way to talk you out of that. He hates it when people magnify God, because then he’s not getting their attention. And the one thing the Devil wants above all else is your attention and to neglect the things of God.
In Acts 3 there is a record of a man who was born crippled and he was healed by God’s Word spoken by Peter and John. As a result of this miraculous healing, word spread throughout that area and Peter and John were apprehended by the religious leaders who didn’t want God’s Word being spoken.
In Acts 4:8-12, Peter speaks out and tells them about Jesus Christ and the power of God: and in verse 11, we see, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
What a statement! It takes great love and commitment to speak God’s Word like that in a pressure situation. Peter was obviously very thankful for the Word of God that he had in his heart. He knew a lot of God’s Word; he had prepared himself. And yet, he didn’t have access to the Church Epistles as we do today, because they hadn’t been written yet.
Most of our situations to speak God’s Word are probably not as pressurized as that which we just read. We have all that anybody in this day and time is going to need to have to be a ‘prepared’ Christian. We have much to be thankful for. We can speak in tongues and lead people into the new birth, which Jesus Christ could not do because it was not yet available.
Colossians 3:15 and 17 tell us: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body; and be ye thankful.And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
The world is never going to speak God’s Word to us. You won’t hear the wonderful things of God spoken about in the media. The Adversary runs the media and he does not want us to hear the things of God. It’s up to us, Christians strong and wise, who speak because we love Christ and believe in the Father’s call to speak the Words of life. It’s a wonderful thing to do, and I love to do it and until I can’t do it, I’m going to continue to have funglimpses! Thanks for reading!
Respectfully submitted! Will Grove