Today is the Day of Salvation
By Chad Taylor
"And on some have compassion, making a difference, but others save with fear, snatching them out of the fire..." (Jude verses 22-23).
If we were walking down the street tonight and saw a little girl dangling from a 2nd story window, smoke billowing from the cracks around her, flames shooting from the roof as her screams pierced the night air, would we hesitate to intervene? Would we pause and think and contemplate if it was "the right thing to do?" Or would we rather leap and run to her aid, doing whatever humanly possible to see her rescued? It does not take much meditation to answer these questions. What if it was your own child in that burning house? What would our reaction be then? How swiftly and fearlessly would we risk life and limb to see them saved?
Now think about this. All around us their are children lost and desperate littering our city streets. Millions mill about and wander this nations metropolitans. Homeless, fatherless, and terrified. You see them at the bus stops, shopping malls, and street corners. But when do you see them outside the church perimeters, in the foyer, or in the parking lot hoping to get in? When do you see them filling our Sunday morning services pressing forward to reach the altar? I must ask, where are the army of lost and lonely children that march this nation's streets? What have we done in all of our conferences and convocations to reach them? How long will we continue to build larger enterprises and ministries as these little ones perish and go to hell? I think the Father is asking us the same thing today... "Suffer the little children to come unto Me..."
Once I heard a story of a man who was driving downtown in some large city, he saw a young girl on the corner dressed scantily and cold. She paced back and forth vulnerable and scared. This man went home that night and cried out to the Lord in frustration, "Lord! What have you done to help these children? What have you done? What will you do?!" There was no response. Later that night the Lord suddenly answered his persistent prayer, "I have done something about it, I made you..."
God has created us as His vessels of mercy. His ships of grace, to sail into this world and deliver His salvation. If we lift Him up He will draw all mankind to Himself. But first we must lift Him up! First we must enter the ocean of humanity and cast a rope of rescue. We cannot expect the drowning masses to somehow reach our harbors and docks, we must launch out into the deep and throw out the nets! Fishing is not done from the safe shores of church, it is done in the dangerous depths of the world! Out in the deep is where we take in a great catch...Out in the deep is where we see His miracles. We have played the entertainer, entertaining the crowds of Christians to get a good offering. Selling our wares and parading our gifts. Oblivious to the desperate cries all around us...
Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fisher's of men..." Not, "Follow Me and I will make you a great and mighty prophet that all the earth reveres..." I believe the test to all of our prophecy and revelation is the impact it had on a dying planet. What impression it made on the hearts of lost humanity. What impact it had on the heathen nations of the world. God burn up the wood, hay, and stubble of human effort. Consume the worthless work of man's hand. Give us revivalists that burn for the lost as You did. That lose sleep and fortune to see even one saved. That dream and wake to your burning desire to see this world saved. "For it is not your will that even one perish, but that all would come to repentance..." (2nd Peter 3:9).
Somehow we have allowed the spirit of indifference to camp in our midst. Indifferent to the world around us. We can pray but we cannot reach out. We can talk about soul winning, have conferences about soul winning, but when are we really winning souls? If you or I were asked the question today, "When is the last time you personally led a soul to Jesus and watched them become born again?" What would we honestly answer? What is your answer now? "Well, that is not my calling! God has not told me to do that!" This is the root of the deception that has crept in unaware into our hearts and churches. Somehow forgetting the great command of Jesus to every believer, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
We stand by on the sidelines of human demise and speak our messages, sing our songs, prophecy and preach, and all the while we never reach, even one lost soul. Let the words of Christ then burn in our consciences, "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? (Luke 15:4).
William Booth founder of the Salvation Army was once heard saying, 'I wish I could dangle every convert over hell for 30 minutes that they could know what they were saving people from!' It seems we have lost all concept of hell and eternity. Like the rich man we are startled that there is such a place and beg for our family not to suffer such a state. Or like the Pharisee we can purposely ignore the eternal judgement waiting for every soul not washed in the blood of Jesus. Which eventually numbs our conscience and relieves us of any urgency and compassion for the lost. We can prophecy ourselves right out of any effectiveness and impact on a human soul. We become prophets of fallacy never impacting where it is needed the most, the world.
I must shout from the housetops! The endless books of revelation, the current prophetic buzz, the endless conferences and meetings, what are they doing to change the moral and spiritual climate in our cities?! Are souls being won into the Kingdom of God? Are we baptizing new converts and experiencing explosive expansion in Heaven? Are the gangs and violence being curbed and changed because of the things we are doing? If not, we are failing, we have no fruit that remains, and we must seriously and severely examine our hearts and return to our fist love and first works. We must renovate our churches and position ourselves for harvest. We have to open the doors that are locked and shut and opened only for church attendees and shut to the lost and dying. We must cater to the lost sheep not to our own selfish enterprises. God give us a heart aflame with your love and passion! That weeps as you wept over Your city, that it would not miss its day of visitation, its Salvation...Remind us all Lord that, TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!"
Chad Taylor
Webpage: www.consumingfire.com