Dead or Alive

Jesus said...

"Allow the spiritually dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and spread the news about the kingdom of God."

Luke 9:60 AMP

So which are you, dead or alive?

Whether we are a pastor, leaders, speakers, or believers in Christ Jesus and His Word, which is Him by the way, we are responsible for spreading the news of the kingdom of God, as Jesus commanded us, would you agree?

If we only share certain parts of the news but not others, we must ask ourselves Why.

Are we operating in unbelief or fear, or worse, both?

When we share the gospel, we must do it with total and complete faith, not wavering by giving attention to ourselves or being afraid of the reactions of others.

Jesus showed by example what it meant to share the whole gospel. We must do the same. Remember, the devil is watching and knows our weaknesses. He knows whether you are spiritually dead or alive.

The disciples struggled with unbelief early in their walk with Jesus, but then He told them:

"O faithless (unbelieving) and perverse (crooked) generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer (endure) you? Bring thy son hither."

Luke 9:41 KJV

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Mark 16:17-18 KJV

"I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me as Savior will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these in extent and outreach, because I am going to the Father."

John 14:12 AMP

Seven sons of the Jewish high priest named Sceva tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, all for their glory. But they did this apart from a true belief in Jesus Christ and without His given authority. This is what happened to them:

"But the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you? And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."

Acts 19:15-18 ESV

We must be careful to reflect Jesus, not a religious spirit.

Jesus spoke to the religious leaders of his day, calling out the fact that they did not take part in the gospel, and in fact, did all they could to stop it from reaching others:

"from the blood of Abel, who was killed by his brother, to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered in the middle of the temple court. Yes, I tell you, you will be responsible for it all. You are nothing but hypocrites, you experts of religion! You take away from others the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge. Not only do you lock the door and refuse to enter, but you also do your best to keep others from the truth."

Luke 11:51-52 The Passion Translation

Do you set the example of the authority of Christ Jesus as it was given to you, or do you shrink back giving a watered-down, socially palatable, white sepulchered gospel that only brings glory to yourself? And are you offended by the ones around you who broadcast the gospel by example, stopping them from sharing the truth with others, all for fear of the super-religious?

"We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work."

John 9:4 AMP

"each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done."

1 Corinthians 3:13 ESV

With all boldness and truth, with every fiber of your being, present the entire gospel by example without reservation. STAY ALIVE!!!