Tears for the Damned

In Philippians 3.10 we read that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death. Listen friends, to experience the power of His resurrection, a self must go the way of the cross. Every hope, every desire, every ambition must be nailed there and die there.

This is the only way I will know Him who suffered and died there on that bloody tree. For it is through the fellowship of His sufferings I am made willing to be emptied of self and earthly recognition. The Christian life is lived via the cross.

So I can be dead to the world and the opinion of men. It is here I am made conformable unto His death. The cross has a glowing energy of pain and shame and scandal.

To be associated with a bloodstained Christ is an offense in itself. The magnificence of Christ can only be manifested through my life when self ceases to exist. Is Jesus my all in all? Is there an inch of the world still standing between me and Him? The cross can handle that, for it is also a thermometer that tells me if I am red-hot for Christ and sold out to the gospel for the souls of men.

Do I weep tears over the damned? Do I carry a burden for the souls of men? Am I on the out-and-out for Christ? Can others see I am wholly sold out to Him? When was the last time I handed out a tract or told someone about a crucified Christ who came down here so we can go up there? Can others see my smoke and sparks for my Master? Or is there too much of the world still blocking the view? Do I grieve the fact that, minute by minute, people perish into a region of flames and perdition? Do I shed hot tears for the damned? My Christ died so others could live. Have I died to self so others can live? Do I care about the perishing? People perish by the minute and slip into eternity. Would they either enjoy God forever in heaven's bliss, or be separated from God forever in a devil's hell? Do I shed hot tears for the damned? Do I carry a burden for the souls of men? Or am I still full of myself in the world, the damned crowd in hell, in agony as soul for their missed opportunity of knowing Christ Jesus? Do I know Him well enough to weep over the damned? How about you, friend? Will you venture your all for Christ and gamble your life away for Him and the sake of souls? Hell is a hot, miserable region where the damned cry out in agony continually, and every minute more souls die outside of Christ and fill hell by the hour.

When was the last time you wept over the souls of men? When was the last time you handed out a track or witnessed to the lost what's holding you back? Is self still in the way? The cross can take care of that. Let us pray.