But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. (Mark 6:4)
Greetings from the Breaker Family,
Thanks for all your prayers for us and letters of condolences during the loss of my Father. We are getting through this and find our only solace is in serving the Lord. Suffering loss brings us closer to the Lord, and makes the things of this world look dim in comparison to spiritual and eternal things.
The above verse states it well. Usually, a preacher has no chance of preaching the Gospel to those of his own birth city. But God is good, and is opening many doors for us to witness here in the town where I was born and raised, as we take care of things in the wake of Dad’s demise.
We are constantly baffled how God has worked days, months, and even years to bring sinners to the same place, time, and spot we are in so they can hear the Gospel! And we are amazed at how God uses circumstances to soften the heart of even the most hardened transgressor to the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For years we’ve prayed, “Lord, please use us!” And we are grateful as we see Him do just that! Even though circumstances aren’t always what we desire, we continually find God behind the scenes working and moving on lost sinners to bring them across our path. But we’ve found being used of God doesn’t come without a cost. It seems the Lord gets the most use out of us amidst heartaches, trials, and tribulations. The worse things get, the more open doors we find to witness, that otherwise we might not have had. It’s good to know we are a hardened and tempered tool that stands up well in adversity, and not one that breaks under pressure.
MY BROTHER-IN-LAW
My last prayer letter, I told about how I was able to win my brother-in-law to the Lord through all this. That’s been the greatest blessing, and joy to know he’s going to go with us in the rapture. I’ve also spoken to my sister, who claims she’s accepted Christ Jesus as her Saviour as well. When I asked her about it, she said Dad explained the Gospel to her and that’s when she trusted the blood atonement. What a great thing to hear!
LADY AT THE HOSPITAL
While Dad was in Intensive Care, I was able to translate to the nurses for a Hispanic lady in the next stall. The Lord opened the door for me to witness to that elderly Hispanic woman in her own language. Please pray she’d recover and get saved! (Sorry, but she didn’t give me her name).
OLD SURF BUDDY
I met an old surf buddy at the funeral home where I preached Dad’s funeral, and invited him out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We talked for over an hour, and he had many questions. I explained the Gospel as clearly as possible for over an hour. He listened, and said he’d think about it. (Please pray for Stephen’s salvation). Afterwards, the owner gave us our meal free because I witnessed to the waiter as well.
THE GUY AT THE DMV
At the DMV office, my wife had a chance to witness to a scruffy, scary looking biker guy, who believed in God, but thought, and I quote: “...When you die, nothing happens. You just cease to exist.”
My wife planted a seed in telling him about judgment, and left him a Gospel tract.
OTHER CHRISTIANS
I’ve talked to many other brothers in Christ, and they’ve all said the same thing, “Your Dad’s dying made me think about my Father as well, and how he might be gone soon!” Some have told me that this led to their witnessing to their lost father. Others said it gave them a desire to witness more, knowing that someone else’s father needs the Lord. And still others said it encouraged them to think about death and the need to adamantly preach the Gospel to the lost and dying world.
I know personally it has given me more boldness to speak to the lost, knowing that not only is my heavenly Father watching me, but so is my earthly father in heaven as well.
These are just some of the opportunities we’ve had. Time and space won’t allow to list them all. But we are grateful to have a chance to serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
I don’t know why the Lord took my Dad. But it appears He’s getting all the glory out of it. We’ve already seen one soul saved, and we pray the Lord will win many more. But we remain thankful for the many doors opened unto us to give the Gospel that Dad’s passing has allowed.
Because I desire to know nothing else but Christ Jesus Crucified,
Robert Breaker III
1 Sam. 12:24!
P.S. In March, I’ll be in California preaching in a Spanish church, and helping with visitation. I ask you to pray for traveling mercies, as well as hearts open and attentive to the Gospel.
ADDENDUM
It never baffles me to see how much apostasy reigns in our day and age. In February, I had a pastor write to me and offer his condolences for my father’s death. I wrote him back thanking him, but also added on a side note that my Dad thought he wasn’t saved because of his poor testimony (it wasn’t clear and it didn’t line up with the Bible, as it was faith plus something else. It also left out faith in the blood).
I didn’t intend to start a debate, but this pastor wrote back and the discussion quickly turned to that of believing (of which I soon learned he was against). He then showed his ignorance by attacking the Gospel of salvation by faith in the blood atonement of Jesus, calling it the “BELIEVE ONLY GOSPEL.”
He was adamant in stating, “ONLY BELIEVE” is a false gospel, which will damn a soul to hell!
I immediately went to the scriptures and pointed him to the words of Jesus:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and BELIEVETH on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that BELIEVETH on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that BELIEVETH on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47)
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that BELIEVETH in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and BELIEVETH in me shall never die. BELIEVETH thou this? (John 11:25-26)
Yet, he would not accept what Jesus said.
Through our correspondence it became evident that his definition of BELIEVE was much different than the Bible definition of the same word. To him, believe meant just a simple mental “assenting” to the facts of salvation. This would be a knowing of the facts of the Gospel in the MIND alone.
Clearly, this is not salvation. Every Catholic priest KNOWS all about the blood atonement of Jesus Christ, but they aren’t saved. So does every liberal religious teacher in all secular colleges. But just knowing or believing it with the HEAD only is not salvation.
The Bible defines believing unto salvation as trusting in something or someone. It’s not just knowing in the mind, but it’s relying upon and accepting wholeheartedly by FAITH from the HEART.
Acts 8:37 makes it clear: “And Philip said, If thou BELIEVEST WITH ALL THINE HEART, thou mayest…” (Acts 8:37)
In the Bible, salvation is by GRACE through FAITH (believing) ALONE, plus nothing, minus nothing. That’s the way God set it up!
Obviously, this is too easy for the said pastor, and his different definition of the word “believe” lead him to deny the very words of Jesus, even going so far as to exclaim, “A person who only believes will go to hell!”
This is why it’s so important to define words! Because defining a word outside of the Bible definition is to lead a man down the path to destruction, apostasy, unbelief, and denying of God’s word.
The truth is, if a person believes only about Jesus, then he is lost, because he believes with his HEAD, and not his HEART. But if a man believes upon Christ Jesus by FAITH, resting on the finished work of Christ alone for salvation, he is marvellously and wonderously saved! Why? Because God said so!
How important then, are the definition of words! To define a word differently than the Bible defines it will lead a man to apostasy, and cause him to preach something contrary to the word of God. But defining a word Biblically, will lead a person to the saving truth of Jesus Christ and eternal life!
Would you believe that Pastor claimed to be a Fundamentalist? Would you believe he’s also an Independent Baptist? Well he is. No wonder the world is in the mess it is today. So-called Christians are denying the very foundation of the Christian faith. And if the foundation crumble, so will the building. God help us! And may you be faithful in preaching the word of God, and making sure lost sinners understand what you mean by the definition of words. Because everything depends upon definitions! And, the Bible defines itself!
