Christian Message Boards: Power of Publicity

This is topic Power of Publicity in forum Favorite Devotions at Christian Message Boards.

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Posted by knowHim (Member # 8) on :

Matthew 7:19-20
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Jesus Christ makes publicity the test; He lived His own life most publicly (John 18:20). The thing that enraged our Lord’s enemies was the public manner in which He did things; His miracles were the public manifestation of His power. To-day people are annoyed at public testimony. It is no use saying, “Oh yes, I live a holy life, but I don’t say anything about it,” for you certainly do not, the two go together. If a thing has its root in the heart of God, it will want to be public, to get out, it must do things in the external and the open, and Jesus not only encouraged this publicity. He insisted upon it. For good or bad, things must be dragged out. “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.” It is God’s law that men cannot hide what they really are. If they are His disciples it will be publicly portrayed. In Matthew 10 Jesus warned His disciples of what would happen when they publicly testified, but, He said, “Don’t hide your light under a bushel for fear of wolfish men; be careful only that you don’t go contrary to your duty and have your soul destroyed in hell as well as your body. Be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Our Lord warns that the man who will not be conspicuous as His disciple will be made to be conspicuous as His enemy. As surely as God is on His throne, the inevitable principle must work, the revealing of what men really are.

Chambers, Oswald, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, (United Kingdom: Marshall Morgan & Scott) c1929.