1 Thessalonians 2:4 "but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts."
Being still a 4 year old in the faith, God has blessed me abundantly with a hunger for His Word to the point where I often find it insatiable. Because of this I listen to many sermons. Therefore I have heard many good sermons as well as many bad ones. I sometimes let some theological blunders pass (except if it is outright heresy) but when it comes to giving the Gospel I believe it needs to be preached properly.
In my last post, I presented the gospel in the clearest way I could for the specific purpose of making sure I had the gospel clear in my mind. We often take the clarity of the gospel for granted in this day and age, yet Paul encourages us not to speak of the gospel in a way that pleases men. Paul says in this verse that we are "entrusted with the gospel" and because of this it is precious. The gospel is the greatest news we could bring a person so why would we not want to tell it to them properly? The one thing I've noticed some preachers and evangelist's forget to preach is repentance. This is vital and present in the preaching of Jesus and the apostles.
Furthermore, as a younger evangelist, I used to forget to mention that Christ not only DIED for us but that He is RISEN as well. What a mistake! It isn't much good news if He died and nothing happened now is it? Not to mention it is the hinge of everything we believe as Christians.
1 Corinthians 15:12-15 "12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. "
I could go two ways on this topic but I'm going to speak on the believers responsibility this time. Part of not being ashamed of something is revealing it as it is. As Christ's followers we have the responsibility not only to preach the Gospel but to preach it clearly. What God has entrusted us with, we will be accountable to Him for, including the preaching of His Word.
JMS
If we felt at liberty to leave out something, we should naturally omit that which is offensive, and away would go the tooth and edge of the gospel. That which is offensive in the gospel is just that which is effective. What men oppose is what God uses. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Being still a 4 year old in the faith, God has blessed me abundantly with a hunger for His Word to the point where I often find it insatiable. Because of this I listen to many sermons. Therefore I have heard many good sermons as well as many bad ones. I sometimes let some theological blunders pass (except if it is outright heresy) but when it comes to giving the Gospel I believe it needs to be preached properly.
In my last post, I presented the gospel in the clearest way I could for the specific purpose of making sure I had the gospel clear in my mind. We often take the clarity of the gospel for granted in this day and age, yet Paul encourages us not to speak of the gospel in a way that pleases men. Paul says in this verse that we are "entrusted with the gospel" and because of this it is precious. The gospel is the greatest news we could bring a person so why would we not want to tell it to them properly? The one thing I've noticed some preachers and evangelist's forget to preach is repentance. This is vital and present in the preaching of Jesus and the apostles.
Furthermore, as a younger evangelist, I used to forget to mention that Christ not only DIED for us but that He is RISEN as well. What a mistake! It isn't much good news if He died and nothing happened now is it? Not to mention it is the hinge of everything we believe as Christians.
1 Corinthians 15:12-15 "12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. "
I could go two ways on this topic but I'm going to speak on the believers responsibility this time. Part of not being ashamed of something is revealing it as it is. As Christ's followers we have the responsibility not only to preach the Gospel but to preach it clearly. What God has entrusted us with, we will be accountable to Him for, including the preaching of His Word.
JMS
If we felt at liberty to leave out something, we should naturally omit that which is offensive, and away would go the tooth and edge of the gospel. That which is offensive in the gospel is just that which is effective. What men oppose is what God uses. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon