A prophet is not without honour except in his own hometown

[notice]A monthly column by farmer, preacher and writer  for Jesus, Angus Buchan[/notice]

Just reading The Bible this morning I read in Luke 4:24 where Jesus says “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.” We need to understand sometimes that the hardest place to start preaching the Gospel is in your own home town. Jesus grew up in Nazareth and they knew who He was. He was Joseph the carpenter’s son. His brothers went to school with their brothers and sisters so when He said, He was the Son of God they nearly killed him by pushing him off from the edge of a cliff.

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Sometimes when you try to preach the Gospel to your own people they don’t want to receive it, but don’t be disheartened take courage and press through.

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I remember the first campaign I ever had in my life was in Ladysmith, KZN. I went to each Church and told them we are coming to have a campaign. I said all we want you to do is invite your people and invite the lost. We will pay for everything and it will cost you nothing. They were very reluctant to receive me, because I was a local farmer. It was only the Spirit of God that intervened otherwise it would never have worked. So don’t be discouraged if things are not going the way you want them to go, because that even happened to Jesus.

The Bible says that Jesus could perform very few miracles in his own home town because of their unbelief. Yet a half day’s walk down to the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum signs and miracles followed His preaching. We need to be encouraged, there is nothing new under the sun. Our Lord who is the greatest Preacher that has ever lived suffered Himself from the local people not wanting to respect Him. So we have nothing to worry about. The Holy Spirit Himself will guide us.

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Jesus even said to His disciples, “If you go into a town and they don’t receive you, then dust of your feet and move on.” I want to encourage you to do that, because time is running out. God is no respecter of persons. He will use any man or any women who is prepared to put their hand up, but when the going gets tough don’t think that you have missed your calling. It is just part of the course, because people don’t always respect you in the beginning. That is why consistency is so important in the Kingdom of God. No flash in the pan, or fly by night, is received anymore. People are tired of it. They want to see somebody who is going to be in season and out of season preaching the same message, The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

May God bless you as you continue to preach where ever people will hear you and not be discouraged if you are not warmly received initially.