“Now as He (Jesus) drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes; for days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you … and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)
Dear Readers, it occurs to me that one of the greatest challenges to the message of the cross is a sense of complacency. We, as Christians, are so complacent in our desire to see souls come to Christ. We are unburdened and unwilling to cry to God over the lost and dying souls. Instead, we are too busy trying to build our empires, self-images and getting stuffs; maybe we think there is still plenty of time. Even our preachers today are also busy in “just be happy”, “enjoy yourself”, “prosperity”, “self-image” types of messages; with little or no concern for the message of the cross message of warning and message for lost souls. Does this describe you? Maybe it speaks volume about your Bishop or Pastor. Listen! Jesus was a man of joy, yet He was also a man of tears.
Jesus wept tears of sympathy at the grave of Lazarus. He wept tears of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. But in the passage found in Luke 19:41-44, He wept tears of urgency. Can you imagine Jesus weeping? My friend, the Christian life is one of abounding joy, but it is also to be one of tears. It is meant to be a life of a broken heart, compassion and intercession with groaning that cannot be altered for the backslidden, the lost and dying souls. Solomon wrote in Eccl. 3:4, there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh …” And like Jesus, we need to shed tears of sympathy, tears of agony, and tears of urgency because of the day in which we are living in now.
Jesus was approaching Jerusalem for His last week; we read that He stopped and began to weep, mourning over Jerusalem. He was weeping because, although it was a great day of visitation and opportunity, but the people were blind to it. They did not know that their Saviour was there. They were blind to their salvation and deaf to the danger of unbelief. They were blind to the great harvest of souls and the judgment to come. Is this not what is happening in our churches, ministries, communities, cities and nations today? The Holy Spirit can be so neglected and so insulted that He ceases to strive. My friend, it is vitally important to respond immediately when the Spirit of God is moving in your heart. Enough of our dry-eyed Christianity!
Listen to these testimonies: (i) One day, a rugged logger attended a prayer meeting in London, England. Confronted with the gospel, he said, “I will attend to the matter when I am through hauling logs in one month.” Four weeks to that day, he was swimming; and with profanity on his lips, he drowned. Opportunity passed. He was one month too late. (ii) A lady could not sleep one night and wrote in her diary, “Next week, I will attend to the salvation of my soul.” She died the next day – one week too late. (iii) A young lady attended a revival meeting with her parents and was under great conviction. She said to them, “I will seek God tomorrow night.” Yet, she decided to go to a party the next night rather than go back to the revival. She was sitting at her dressing table putting a ribbon in her hair when she fell dead. She was one day too late.
Another young in Lagos, Nigeria was in a crusade. Her aunt implored her to give her heart to Jesus Christ, but she refused. On the way from the crusade, she was in a tragic accident and died. She was one hour too late. Hear me! The fact of death is certain to every human, but the time of death is not. All these people had their day and chances. They all had a golden opportunity. But they missed it. This is very tragic! My friend, this is our time! This is our opportunity! There are souls in hell who would give anything to have the opportunity that you and I have today – not only to get saved, but to be soul winners, and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ for ever. Listen! Your community, city and nation are ripe for harvest. Your loved ones should be saved (born again)! And the things which break the heart of Jesus ought to break your heart today. You need to weep over lost souls in your family, school, work-place, community, parliamentary houses, city and nation. Let’s intercept them from going to hell.
Many years ago, the Salvation Army, founded as an evangelical organization dedicated to bringing people to Christ, had a great convocation (convention) to discuss the apparent lack of success they were having in winning souls. General William Booth, the founder, could not be in that conference due to illness. The attendees implored, “General Booth, please send us a wire. Send us a message. Tell us what to do!” He sent a wire to them with two profound words in it: “Cry tears.” What an odd reply! We’re not often instructed to cry. In fact, crying is seen, many times, as a sign of weakness. But this is what the hour calls for in the time we live today. My friend, it’s okay to be emotional when God gives you His heart, when you are worshipping Him and meditate on His love for you. It’s okay to shed tears crying to God when you see your spouse, family member, friend, even your enemy on their way to hell.
May God forgive all the dry-eyed Christians and dry-eyed churches in this hell-bent world! There are so many people today in our homes, governments, communities, cities and nations heading towards hell. And unfortunately, our churches are full of them too – leaders and members with self-centeredness and selfish ambition, spiritual pride and insecurity…people with the spirit of indifference who care less about what is happening to others. And instead of building up people for the work of ministry, they abuse and misuse them and manipulate them to enrich themselves. Lord Jesus, have mercy! My friend, let’s not be oblivious to the opportunities we have. Now is the time to wake up, cry to God in intercessory prayers for the lost and dying souls and then go out to witness to them.
Jeremiah said, “Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert a wayfarers’ lodging place; that I might leave my people and go from them! For all of them are adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.”(Jer. 9:1-2) Jeremiah, a true Prophet of God, often was very emotional. His writings are filled with moments of passion for God, compassion for his people and times of intense weeping. In fact, he was nicknamed, “The Crying Prophet.” You may ask, “Why was he so emotional?” My friend, it was because he cared about the things of God. He had dedicated his life totally to serving the Lord and to share His faith with others. He cared deeply about people. He knew they would experience the consequences of their actions…unless they repented their sins and changed.
It pained Jeremiah to realize God’s judgment was about to come upon his nation. He wanted them to confess their sins, repent and return to God! Yet, he also felt wounded, and even ashamed, by the choices they made. God showed Jeremiah how readily people lied, how they were disobedient, lukewarm, compromised and too comfy in their services to Him, the only and true God. Jeremiah knew truth did not “prevail in the land.” People didn’t know God or trust each other, and they dealt “craftily” with each other. Evil, greed, corruption, cheating, crime of all sorts, abortion, division, and deception and sexual sins were everywhere. Jeremiah said his people had “taught their tongue to speak lies and they weary themselves committing iniquity.” This realization brought Jeremiah to tears, and he wept openly. He cried to God on behalf of the people and He made the mind of God known to the people.
But today, there is a growing sin among us. It is called, “Sin of Indifference.” This can be translated to “I Don’t Care Attitude,” which is the same as “It doesn’t concern me.” Many of us are so concerned about ourselves and our families without any consideration for any other people in our lives or around us. We are so consumed with material things than relating to God. We go to church for what we can get from God. We set up ministries to enrich our pockets. No wonder God felt the only option was to “refine us and assay us, to “punish us with crisis” and “avenge” Himself, to shake up our lives and test us – hoping we would change. My friend, do you care? You’ve been saved! It is time to rise up for the salvation of others. Today, put God first in your life. Let Him give you a passion for souls – for non-and backslidden Christians around you. You need to burn with a desire to bring them to Christ. May this be your prayer, your burden, your assignment and commitment from today in Jesus name (Amen) Cry to God! Remain blessed!
