“Over Our Dead Bodies”
Charles Spurgeon said,“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to turn to God. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled with the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
“ Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire’ to others show mercy mixed with fear- hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Jude 1:22-23
The truth is this; we are all sinners in need of a Savior. This Savior who came into the world to save us is Jesus Christ. By His great, unfailing love for us, He told us plainly the way to heaven. He told us about our lives and eternity. He chose to die on a cross for the sins of all the world, for all who would choose to believe in Him. And Jesus freely gives you the choice to accept HIm and believe that He is God and He has saved us.
A lot of people acknowledge that there’s a God, how else could they be here? Many people will agree that Jesus is God and He died for their sins. People everywhere and anywhere can claim they believe anything, they can know all of these truths. You can know God’s Word inside and out. But Jesus never said the one who hears my Word is saved, the one who hears and believes is saved.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, YOU WILL BE SAVED. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “ Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)
It’s not enough to just know these truths. Many people know these truths of God and Jesus, but they never accept Him into their hearts, they never make the choice to follow Jesus, they never ask Him to forgive all the wrong they’ve ever done. This is truth, as God has clearly made known through His Word. There is a certain, a sure, punishment for sin, and because God is just, He has to punish you for all the bad things you’ve done. HERE’S OUR HOPE, Jesus Christ paid our price, He paid our ransom, He took the punishment that we rightly deserved. Jesus paid for all of it on the cross at Calvary, and it’s our God given CHOICE to either take the punishment ourselves or ask Jesus to forgive us. It’s our choice, the offer that God gives us is the offer of life or death, but God says CHOOSE LIFE. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life!
You must choose to receive God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ if you choose to believe in Him, “ Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” ( John 1:12)
Jesus says to Martha after Lazarus dies, before Jesus raises him from the dead (John 11:25-26), “ I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
That same question that Jesus asked Martha, is the same question Jesus asks us, He says, do you believe this? There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
I want to encourage you all, the world is not our home, we are only travelers, sojourners, pilgrims, foreigners, exiles. Our home and our citizenship is in heaven, with Christ our LORD. God tells us to set our minds on things above, not on worldly things. This life is more than than simply trying to survive in this world, this life is about knowing God, loving God, and loving people. Love for God is obedience to what he says.
So going back to what Charles Spurgeon said, “ If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies.”
Let it be that we would freely lay down our own lives for the sake of saving people from condemnation. That we would lay down our lives for the sake of the gospel, by God’s grace to save as many people as possible, so they too can receive grace, forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ…” let them leap to hell over our dead bodies.”
“And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to turn to God.”
How seriously are we talking Christ and the Gospel? That as God’s Word clearly says, that we will die, we will perish in our sins if we don’t accept Jesus. This life is all about Jesus. And yet our family members, our friends, our neighbors, strangers, people everywhere are dying without having accepted Jesus in their lives, as their Savior and LORD. And yet does that break our hearts, does that not bring us to our knees in earnest prayer and weeping? Does it, or does it not? We are Christ’s ambassadors to the world, we are His children, we know the truth and Christ commissions us to share that truth, at any and every moment. So the question for ourselves is,what are we doing?
Jesus has been again breaking my heart for people, breaking my heart for revival to break out, for another Great Awakening, for repentance. I’m reading a book called “Revival Fire” and it’s getting me on fire for revival! But what are we willing to do about it, are we willing to pray without ceasing, knowing that “ the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective” ( James 5: 16). Are we willing to fast, to pray, to stand in the gap for sinners, imploring them to turn to God? Are we willing to do and not just sit? Are we, or are we not, are You or are you not? This is the choice we will all have to make… revival happens with God’s child, God’s children, are willing to be used as His chosen vessel.
“ If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled with the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” Do we have a voice, then let us speak the Word of God that bring life to all people. Do we have hands and feet, then let us walk the streets, bringing the good news that Jesus died for our sins , to the hopeless, the hurting, the broken, and everyone else! If we truly love God, and if we truly love people, then what is stopping us from sharing the truth of this life, the truth of Jesus with people? Fear? “ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind” ( 2 Timothy 1:7). If we know that our prayers are power and effective, and that all things are done by the power of the name of Jesus, then why have we failed to pray for our friends, our family, our communities, our nation, the world, all people? Trust me, I know this same conviction, because God has convicted me with the same thing. So now, if you really love God and love people, share Him with this world. You have the truth that all people everywhere need to hear. Now Go, love, share, you are the light of the world, because you have the light and life of mankind in you, that light is Jesus.
God bless you!
