“If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified.” (Leonard Ravenhill)

“What are you doing?”

“WHAT are you doing?”

The man was standing on my right hand side, and he was very, very close.  Yesterday morning I was preaching in the city.  It had been a great morning, with very little resistance to the gospel.  In fact, astonishingly, people had been quite open to it.  As soon as I’d started preaching some individuals had immediately come over to talk to the others and ask for tracts (I’ve never seen that before!).   But then this man: he couldn’t have been standing more than a foot away from me.  It made me uncomfortable.

“What are you doing?” he said to me again.

“I will talk to you when I’m finished,” I said, momentarily pausing from preaching.  I could see that he wasn’t about to go anywhere soon.

I turned my back to him slightly and kept going, trying to ignore him.

I usually get nervous when I go to the streets, but I’ve never been afraid.  There is a difference.

Something the Lord has caused me to see is that when I am sent somewhere by the Holy Spirit, then I am going in the authority of Jesus Christ. I am going in His Name.  It is like an ambassador being sent from the US to another country.  He goes with the authority of the US and with the strength of the US behind him.  When we go out from Jesus’ presence into the world we go as His ambassador.  We go under His authority and we have the whole of Heaven behind us, supporting us, cheering us on.

“…and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him, who fills all in all.”

JESUS IS LORD!

There is nothing to fear when we walk with the King of kings, the Lord of Lords.

Back to that man standing close to me: as I spoke with him it became obvious there was a proud, religious spirit manifesting. (…”You don’t know the Bible….You don’t know Jesus….I know Jesus…I know Him better than anyone, better than He knows Himself…“) – and, yes, he actually said that.

The Holy Spirit was grieved by this and He had me take authority over the situation.  I had no choice but to tell him politely but firmly that his heart was not right, that he was wasting my time and that I was ending the conversation with him.  I walked away.  As Christians we are to show love to people but zero tolerance to Satan.

“I am well assured that I did far more good to my Lincolnshire parishioners by preaching three days on my father‟s tomb than I did by preaching three years in his pulpit.” John Wesley

Read more about street-preaching here