Come and hear

        In Mark 5 there is an account recorded of a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. The Lord Jesus Christ had compassion on that man and cast the many demons out of him. As Christ was leaving, the man asked the Lord if he could go with him... 

 "Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath compassion on thee." 
 Mark 5:19

        The Lord didn't allow him to go along, but told him to go to his friends and tell them of all the Lord had done for him and how He had compassion on him.  The Lord hasn't called all of us into the ministry. By that I mean, He did not call all believers to be pastors, or teachers, or hymn writers, or singers...the list could go on and on. Though all believers are not called to a pastoral ministry, we all have been sent by Him to preach the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus didn't tell this man to go and study the word of God and come up with a 3 point sermon and preach it following certain oratory guidelines. He simply said, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath compassion on thee."  All we need to do is tell those whom the Lord puts us in contact with about all He has done for our souls. 

  "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. "  Psalm 66:16

        Twenty-eight years ago this month, the Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul. I grew up in a Christian home. As a family, we faithfully attended church...kind of necessary seeing as how Dad was the pastor. Even before the Lord called my father to be a pastor, we were faithful to the house of the Lord. Around the age of 9, I remember my parents one evening, sitting down alone with me and sharing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I remember agreeing with what they shared, after all, I had heard the gospel for as long as I could remember. I remember that night, alone in the quietness of my room, saying the "sinner's prayer," but nothing changed.  Several months passed and there was no difference in my life. I celebrated my 10th birthday and yet, my soul was still dead in trespasses and sins.  A month later, on June 26, 1983, something did happen. As my father was preaching, something came over me. I can't explain it. I just knew for the first time that I needed Christ and I wanted Christ. I could feel myself being drawn to Him as if He had tied a rope around my waist and was pulling me to Himself... 

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3

        ...with loving kindness He drew me. At the time, there was so much I didn't understand. In the 28 years since, the Lord has opened my understanding to see what He did that day. Come and hear...and I will declare what He hath done for my soul.         First of all, He opened my eyes to see my sin.  He showed me that I was totally affected by sin. There was not one area of my life that had not been tainted by sin. Sure, I wasn't as wicked as I could have been, but I still was infected with sin. There was nothing good in me. Everything I did, though it appeared good, was sinful because my motive for doing it was wrong. My motive was wrong because my heart was wrong. My heart was full of sin. My heart was deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 
        He showed me that payment for my sin was death. God is a Holy God who finds no pleasure in wickedness; neither will evil live with Him. The just reward for my sin was eternal separation from God, suffering His wrath. That is what I deserved, and yet, He had mercy on me and opened my eyes to see this truth. Not everyone understands that they are sinners and that their sin is against God. They don't understand that God's justice demands  payment  to be made for their sins. 
        He opened my eyes to see that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth, became a man, lived a sinless life and gave His life freely so that my sins would be paid for.  I don't know why He paid the price for my sins, other than the simple truth it pleased Him. He became my sin...He took my sin upon Himself and He suffered the full wrath of God for me. He died for my sins almost 2000 years before He drew me to Himself. God saw the travail or pain of Christ's soul and was satisfied. That was the only thing that would satisfy a Holy God. When I understood that, I cried out to him much like the publican found in Luke 18. "God be merciful to me a sinner." 
        I understood my sin. I saw myself as I was in the presence of a Holy God. I agreed with what the Bible said... I was a sinner. I deserved His eternal wrath.  I cried for mercy. I confessed my sins to Him and He was faithful and just to cleanse me from all my sin. Jesus Christ saved me from the wrath of God that day. I fully trusted in what He did for me. I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and I was saved.  Not only did He save me, but He sealed my salvation with His own Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of the living God came and made His home within me that day. I could go on and on declaring to you what all the Lord has done for my soul. In the Bible, a good description of what God did for my soul can be read about in Ephesians 2:1-10. The wonderful thing is He doesn't just leave us there. He continually teaches us and helps us to grow in our knowledge of Him.  He which began a good work in us will continue that good work, or mature us until the day when He comes again. 
        I thank the Lord for the gift of salvation He gave to me. Because of His gift, I now have peace with God and experience the peace of God. To Him be glory, both now and forever!