The Compelling Christian Life (becoming A Light To The Nations) by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Two Levels of Receiving

Receiving spiritual things comes at two levels. There is a level where truth passes through the mind, through the door of intelligence. As the word of God is unveiled and understood, it sinks into the spirit. But there is another layer of assimilation that bypasses the mind, a level of receiving beyond intelligence, where light is quickened in the spirit man and understanding comes without necessarily being learned intellectually.

Every time believers gather, knowledge is being transferred at two levels: within the dimension of intellect, and through spirit communication beyond the realm of intellect, where the Holy Ghost breathes upon the spirit and brings supernatural illumination that did not come through the gate of intellect.

Why the House of God Matters

Psalms 122:1 reminds believers to be glad every time there is an opportunity to be gathered in the house of God. Something happens when a believer goes to the house of the Lord.

• Fellowship — 1 John 1:3-7 speaks of having fellowship with one another, and that fellowship is ultimately with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
• Strength — Psalms 84:7 speaks of going from strength to strength, of help being sent from the sanctuary and strength coming out of Zion.
• Impartation — Acts 2:1 notes that the disciples were gathered together in one accord and in one place, and it mattered that they gathered in that place, because it was there that the Spirit was poured out and cloven tongues of fire rested upon them, officially beginning the dispensation of the Holy Ghost.
• Discovery and realignment — Colossians 4:12 speaks of laboring fervently in prayer that believers may stand perfect, entire, and complete in the will of God. The house of God is a place where believers discover and are realigned to the will of God, because spiritual power operates within the scope of the will of God. Outside the will of God, the ministry of supernatural power cannot be secured except to bring a person back into the will of God.

There are at least three ways scripture reveals through which believers discern the will of God for their lives:

1. The revelation of scripture — when scripture is opened, it brings illumination and functional knowledge of the will of God.
2. The revelatory ministry of the Holy Spirit — 1 Corinthians 2:10 teaches that God has revealed these things to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
3. The prophetic — not limited to the office of a prophet, but including dreams, visions, and trances. The salvation of the Gentiles came by revelation to Peter in a trance, showing that prophetic channels, engaged within the boundary of scripture, are trusted avenues for revealing the will of God.

The Compelling Christian Life: An Introduction

Isaiah 49:6 declares, "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." God does not only promise to bring salvation through a life, He promises that the life itself will be salvation to the ends of the earth.

Christianity is currently growing globally at a rate of between 2.3% and 2.8% a year, a rate no serious investor would consider a worthy yield. Christianity is in steady decline across Europe and has plateaued in parts of Asia due to persecution. The greatest area of growth is the African continent, but much of that growth is driven not by love for God but by a failing economic and political system, where turning to faith is simply a cheaper, safer anchor than other means of survival. That motivation must be corrected by bringing believers to a structured, balanced, wholesome Christian life that produces victory and dominion, so that love for God, not need, becomes the reason for pursuing Him.

Christianity stands at risk of decline even within Africa the moment development arrives at the rate believers pray for. Throughout scripture, economic, political, and sociological emancipation has consistently come with a decline in faith. Every time a people became comfortable, they generally declined, sometimes into idolatry, sometimes into other compromises.

Deuteronomy 8:13 carries a strong warning: when herds and flocks multiply, when silver and gold multiply, when all that a man has is multiplied, the heart becomes lifted up. This is the natural human response to comfort.

Solomon was mentored by his father and became a great man, yet through the abundance of his greatness he began to decline. In the book of Ecclesiastes, written as a fallen man, Solomon confessed that everything his eyes saw, he got for himself, and came to a painful conclusion: "Here is the conclusion of the matter: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." He called money, breakthrough, open doors, houses, and buildings vanity, the very things many seek God for today.

An Imbalanced Witness Cannot Compel a Generation

The world will understand Jesus largely through the quality of believers' own Christian lives. Because God is spirit, the world interprets Him through the lens of those revealing Him. If believers reveal Jesus in a lopsided manner, the world can be made to hate the Christian faith because it depends on the poor witness communicated to it.

Acts 4:13 records that when the rulers saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and took knowledge that these men had been with Jesus. Boldness was evidence of having been with Him.

Luke 6:40, New King James Version: "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." A disciple, perfectly trained, can become a fair enough representation of the life of Jesus that men fall in love with Him through observing that life.

An imbalanced Christian life does not only limit the believer, it creates a narrative that makes a generation fight God and godliness. A prayer warrior who is not productive, a wealthy believer who is carnal and not on fire for God, a believer who blames demons for everything instead of taking responsibility, a believer who trusts principles alone without respecting the demonic, are all shades of imbalance that misrepresent God to minds that are intelligent and to nations that are civilized. The church is currently in a state of doctrinal confusion greater than ever before, with debates raging over the triune nature of God, the infallibility of scripture, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, healing, prosperity, and the assurance of salvation. Christianity must be built on solid pillars: love for Jesus, and the strength of the foundational doctrines that make up the Christian faith, doctrines that are not simply a product of what a pastor said, but have been proved out scripturally and by lived example.

Beyond Crusades: A Deeper Strategy

Crusades, sound of revival gatherings, and evangelical campaigns are wonderful and will continue, but they cannot alone reach a global population of 8.2 billion, of which only around 2.6 billion identify as Christian, and of that number, only a fraction may be genuinely professing believers once true parameters of salvation are applied. Christianity is not even the fastest-growing faith practice statistically. It will take beyond organized crusades and evangelical campaigns to win today's world for Jesus, both because of the sheer scale of the task and because of the economic cost of gathering people at scale.

There is an untapped strategy: the power of a compelling Christian life, which can do to a generation what a crusade does to a stadium of people. Compel means forceful, deserving of attention, alluring, worthy of consideration. A believer's Christian life can shift from fanaticism to a life that compels an entire environment and brings men to the obedience of the faith.

The Six Pillars of a Compelling Christian Life

1. The Strength of Conviction

   Conviction is the depth of persuasion about God, about the Bible, about the authenticity of Christianity as a faith practice, and it is a reflection of the truthfulness of a believer's encounters. Many Christians, including preachers, are not sure Jesus is real, not sure the power of God is real, not sure the Bible is infallible. That haziness in conviction is the reason Christian lives are not compelling, and it shows the moment intelligence challenges doctrine. The average believer's conviction is often based simply on what a pastor said, which is sincere but not enough, and dangerous in the times we live in.

   For over two thousand years Christianity has proclaimed that Jesus came, died, and rose, yet a certain level of persuasion has still not been secured, even among believers, let alone the world being reached. Just as scientists proved the principles of aerodynamics before the world trusted flight, and medicine demonstrated cures before the world trusted it, conviction is strengthened by demonstrated proof. Strong conviction produces boldness to live and to die for Jesus; the reason many cannot live or die for Him is that they are not honestly sure of what they are proposing.

   • Father, search my heart. Reveal the areas of my fears and my doubts.
   • Bring light to my areas of fear and doubt.
   • Open my eyes to see where I am bold but not yet standing on truth.

2. The Power of Character

   Character transcends culture. It is a kingdom virtue accepted even by men who do not honor God. For the believer, character is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, against which Galatians 5:23 says there is no law. Many Christians pray in tongues yet are the first to collect bribes, which is why their witness is not compelling. One of the greatest ways to look like Jesus is not merely to talk or act like Him, but to be like Him, a full reflection of His life.

   Character must be entire and wholesome. A believer who is patient but does not love is not entire; a believer who loves but is not gentle is not entire. The fruit of the Spirit must be allowed to work in its richness and fullness, and it is not something that happens overnight but a daily yielding to the Holy Ghost. Character cannot be excused by culture or background; whatever does not look like Jesus in a personality, a family pattern, or a cultural norm must be fought, not by rebellion, but by the warfare of faith. Even a wicked man, when he sees a good man, recognizes a good man. The world's first respect for a believer should be that they look like Christ, before it is respect for their sermons, their architecture, or their medical practice.

3. Resourcefulness and Productivity

   The church must become exceptional in wisdom, value, resourcefulness, and productivity, with an applicability that is national, transcontinental, and global. Jesus did not wait until He died to begin working miracles, raising the dead, or teaching the Beatitudes; He was resourceful from the start of His ministry, and even without a microphone, a radio house, or the internet, the quality of His content was a threat to the government of the day.

   The Christian faith should not insult the intelligence of a generation and expect it to submit to God; it should not turn people into dummies in the name of spirituality. Some of the ways the prophetic and apostolic have been dispensed, without character or grounding, have brought dehumanizing experiences to the Christian faith that repel rather than attract. Isaiah 11:2 describes the sevenfold manifestation of the Holy Ghost: the spirit of the Lord, of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and of might, of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Where the Holy Ghost is truly at work, this sevenfold dimension should be evident, not merely in prophetic acts but in the intelligence of the spirit.

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   A believer's relevance should go beyond a Sunday service. Priesthood, or any calling, demands being broad and vast enough to communicate thoughts that feed the intelligence of an array of people, whether business people, politicians, or professionals. The value of coming to church on Sunday must be shown on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Whoever's hand finds work to do should do it as unto the Lord, mastering that craft, so that even those who do not know Jesus are compelled to ask where such wisdom comes from. The church must move from being merely a religious ground to a classroom where champions are made.

4. Economic Strength

   Economic strength is the capacity to attract resources and to use them to improve one's life and advance God's kingdom. Proverbs 11:16 says strong men retain wealth. Progress is compelling; every act of personal progress makes a life difficult to ignore, and it is not merely for a name, but so that the light shines bright enough for others to follow that light to God. Belief in Jesus is strengthened not only because He is the Son of God, but because He was a winner who demonstrated it.

   Financial well-being is a defender of integrity. Having the economic wherewithal to reject compromise, rather than being forced to cut corners to meet a need, protects a believer's convictions and values. Proverbs 22:7 says the borrower is servant to the lender, and one way the enemy makes people slaves is by keeping them economically incapacitated. It takes resources to raise children well, to move a family out of a corrupting environment the way Lot needed to leave Sodom, and to fund missions and outreach with dignity rather than complaint.

   Giving is a language of unity; it draws people who would ordinarily resist a religious approach, because when the name of Jesus is wrapped in a gift, they come. Prosperity that is pursued with kingdom integrity, without embezzlement or exploitation, is not something to apologize for. The goal of economic strength is not accumulation for its own sake but the capacity to do ministry with integrity, to raise children, to build responsibly, to fund mission agencies, and to meet needs that would otherwise go unmet.

   • I receive grace to prosper, to advance economically by the wisdom and the grace of God.
   • I decree that my hands shall not lack, that my mind is productive, and that I understand the laws that make for abundance.
   • I engage them by faith, and they deliver to my life.

5. Influence

   Influence is gaining the acceptance and attention of a generation. A believer will only be able to reach a generation whose loyalty, acceptance, and attention has been secured; Jesus cannot be brought to a generation that rejects the one carrying the message. Psalms 71:21 says, "Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side." Influence is the capacity to make men buy into one's beliefs, values, and ideologies without using force or cruelty.

   Every person regarded as great in the kingdom has, by God's mercy, found a way to command the attention of a sufficient number of people. Wealthy and influential figures known globally are known not merely because they are wealthy, but because they have earned attention that makes it impossible for governments and institutions to ignore what they say. The key to influence is value, competence, and excellence beyond a certain threshold.

   There are unscriptural ways of gaining a generation's attention, such as selling conflict or indecency, which believers must reject. But there is a way for a life to become so compelling that a generation gives the gift of attention, loyalty, and acceptance, and when that gift is given, the message of Jesus can penetrate. Men known for this grace of visibility did not always have formal platforms or credentials, yet God placed grace on their lives that secured the attention of a generation.

6. The Manifestation of the Supernatural

   The final pillar is the manifestation of the supernatural, a demonstration of the Spirit that defies logic and science, a reminder of the possibilities that exist in Christ. Signs, wonders, healings, and deliverances that have been witnessed firsthand testify that God's power is real, not merely read about but seen and experienced. From the day of Pentecost until today, the Holy Ghost has not left the earth or the church.

   Wisdom and value are good, but the compelling Christian life cannot be discussed without the anointing, without the supernatural. There is a dimension of possibility that science and principles alone cannot produce. The compelling life needs both wisdom and power operating together, welcoming an era of genuine apostolic power and signs and wonders that the world, from the young to the old, to governments and nations, needs to see.

   • Father, anoint me afresh for the hour and for the journey.
   • Trust me with kingdom influence; grant me access to the loyalty, acceptance, and attention of a generation.
   • I receive the power to prosper as I engage my mind to be productive.
   • Grant me the discipline and capacity to acquire useful knowledge until I attain a realm of competence and mastery.
   • Grant grace to walk in character, manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in my life.
   • Grant grace to be anchored on the truth of the gospel, to stand and not bend, not because a man of God said it, but because I have stepped into a deeper dimension of conviction.

Closing Charge

An altar call followed, in which those desiring salvation, rededication, or assurance of salvation were invited forward and led in a prayer of surrender to receive the life of God.