First John 1:6 says, “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not
from God does not listen to us.” As Jesus is quoted as saying in the
Gospel of John, “I know my own and my own know me” (10:14). And again,
“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not
hear them is that you are not of God” (8:47). Those who belong to God and are indwelt by His Spirit will
recognize the truth. God’s people will know God’s voice. Those who don't belong to God will not recognize the truth. There is a seeing and hearing that require more than our physical eyes and ears. There is more to this world than what meets the eye.
In
preaching and evangelism, we need not take on the burden of making
people listen. We have the burden of preaching and presenting the
gospel as best as we can, but we can’t cause those who don’t belong to
God to understand it. There are changes in people that we as humans can’t make.
Only God can cause blind eyes to see and deaf ears to hear. We must
put forth effort to lovingly preach and evangelize, praying for God to change
hearts, but in the end we must trust the work that God does. We water
and plant but only God can cause the growth.
Just listened to a message by Doug Wilson similar to this. He said that God doesn't call us to hospitals to persuade people to take medicine. He calls us to cemeteries to proclaim a message where only God can raise the dead.
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