Sharing Christ In Light Of His Return Series

A couple of hunters are out in the woods of New Jersey when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing; his eyes are rolled back in his head. Terrified, his friend whips out a cell phone and dials 911.

“My friend is dead! What can I do?” he cries over the phone.

In a calm, soothing voice, the operator says, “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.”

There is a moment of silence, and then a single shot is heard.

The guy's voice comes back on the line: “Okay, now what?” (www.laughlab.co.uk; www.PreachingToday.com)

Actually, that’s a very good question: “Okay, now what?” Jesus is coming very soon, and you want people to repent before its too late. You want your friends and family members to understand the gravity of the situation and turn to the Lord to escape the coming wrath. You don’t want to shoot somebody, that’s for sure! You just want to help people in desperate need of a Savior.

So how do you do that? How do you convince people to turn from their self-destructive ways to a Savior, who can deliver them from the wrath to come? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 2, 1 Thessalonians 2, where we see how the Apostle Paul convinced people in his day to turn to the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 2:1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. (ESV)

Literally, it was not empty. Paul’s ministry was effective. Why?

1 Thessalonians 2:2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. (ESV)

In Philippi, they beat Paul up and threw him into jail. Then he came to Thessalonica, where a mob came after him! Even so, Paul did not back down: He boldly proclaimed the gospel “in the midst of much conflict,” literally, in the midst of much agony.

The word pictures a wrestling match where the wrestlers agonize and struggle to get the upper hand. Paul was in a very real struggle with those who opposed him, but he never lost his courage. In fact, the conflict only seemed to increase his courage.

Paul was bold in the face of opposition, and that’s what you need to be, as well, if you want to influence people to turn to the Lord.

BE BOLD!

Be fearless in the face of opposition. Don’t back down even when people attack you.

In the fifth century, a monk named Telemachus wanted to live his life in pursuit of God, so he lived alone in the desert praying, fasting, and meditating. Then one day, as he prayed, he realized he was a selfish man. If he truly wanted to serve God, he must serve people, so he decided to return to the city where there was a lot of sin and some very great need.

Telemachus headed for Rome. He arrived at a time when the Roman general, Stilicho, had won a great victory over the Goths, and since Rome was officially Christian, the victory brought people pouring into the churches.

But one pagan practice still lingered in Christian Rome – the gladiator games. While Christians were no longer thrown to the lions, prisoners of war were cast into the arena to fight and kill one another. Spectators roared with a lust for blood as the gladiators battled each other.

Telemachus arrived on the day of the games. Following the noise, he made his way to the arena where 80,000 people had gathered to celebrate. The fights began and Telemachus stood horrified. Men for whom Christ had died were about to kill each other to amuse a supposedly Christian audience.

He jumped into the arena and stood between the two gladiators, begging them to stop. The crowd was furious at the delay of their “entertainment,” and after several shouts and threats, they stoned the monk to death. The rest of the contests were cancelled that day, and three days later, Honorius (the Roman Emperor) declared Telemachus a martyr and ended the gladiatorial contests forever. (William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, Westminster Press, 1975, pp. 203-205; www.PreachingToday.com)

Telemachus was a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, because he was not afraid of people. He was not afraid to stand up for what was right even if people stoned him. In that way, he singlehandedly stopped a centuries-old, ungodly, violent tradition that was a terrible blight on the entire empire. I wonder what would happen if just a few of God’s people today had that kind of courage.

Someone once said: “If there is one thing upon earth that [people] love and admire better than another, it is a brave man – a man who dares look the devil in the face and tell him he is the devil” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.127). You, be that man. You, be that woman. Be bold! Be fearless in the face of opposition.