Throughout His life on earth, Jesus faced many problems in getting people to follow Him. Most Jews of the day wanted a Messiah to come and establish an earthly kingdom like the one David had established. Since Jesus made it clear that this was not His goal, they rejected Him.
However, there was one thing that Jesus could do that would draw all men to Him. He could die on the cross. The centurion was made a believer at this event; "Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God." (Matthew 27:54).
If you are reading this article, you at least have an interest in spiritual matters. Why do people love and serve God? Because Christ was lifted up on the cross for our sins. Truly, the lifting up of Christ should draw all men unto Him. But there are other lessons that can be gleaned from this passage.
Many times people tend to come to worship because they like the preacher. Sometimes people will even throw out the teaching of the Bible and follow what their preacher says just because they like him so much.
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).
Many congregations of the Lord’s church have given in to the temptation of using gimmicks to draw people in. They reason to themselves that if they can only get the people to come; then they can try to teach them.
Brethren, if one comes to worship because they want entertained, then he is not coming for the right reason. And even if that individual continues to attend; he will always want to be entertained. If he gets bored, he will go elsewhere.
People must want to come because they love God and desire to serve Him. These are the ones who God desires to serve Him. "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (John 4:23).
-- Ralph Price --
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