Previously in my blog, we discussed just briefly about the call to preach the gospel, but today we shall emphasise the more important issue - the reason why we should preach the gospel and I’ll also explain a little more on why there is so much struggles in preaching the gospel.
First and foremost, not only is preaching the gospel a command of the Lord, given to us through the Great Commission, but the preaching of the gospel is about the souls of people. The reason why God had to come down to die for us is because we are in great need of a savoir, we are all sinners condemned to hell and God has to do something to redeem us from that curse. Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to its own ways. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Jesus Christ)”, Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The reason why the gospel is so offensive is because tells people the hard truth that it’s a message of heaven or hell. Previously, I’ve talked about some hard core evangelist pushing the message forcefully down the throat to tell people straight to the face that either you accept Jesus or you’re going to hell. Initially, I thought they were being unloving and tactless, but as I was listening to my pastor preach this morning (surprised that he was talking about the same topic that I’m sharing) I’ve learnt from my pastor that apart from sharing with them about the love of Jesus, telling and warning people about hell is actually the most loving thing you can do. I like to use the example that my pastor shared with us – It is like when you see an oncoming car going toward your loved ones, the most loving thing to do is to tell him there’s a car coming and push him away from it to prevent him from being killed.
Similarly, the hard truth that the gospel preaches about Jesus being the way, the truth and life and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6) and “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), is a message that most find it hard to swallow because of the nature of pride and sin in men, we refuse to accept that we are sinners and are damn to hell. Previously in my earlier blog, I’ve quoted John 3:18, the fact that we do not believe in the name of the Son already spells condemnation for ourselves. This truth in itself is offensive, but preach it we still must because of the next point I’m going to talk about…
The next point is about the urgency in preaching the gospel, as we are now living in the end times, and signs are showing that Jesus may be coming back any time. From now to the final day that Jesus is coming back, He is giving us opportunity upon opportunity to repent of our sins before it is too late. No one knows when Jesus will come back, but when He finally does, that would be ultimate judgment day and our fate would have been sealed by the decision that we have chosen before either eternal life through Jesus in heaven or eternal damnation and separation from Jesus in hell, and there would be no more chance left to repent. Those names that are not in the book of life will be sent to hell. And Hell as described in the Bible is a place of 1) Eternal fire (Matt 25:41), 2) Eternal punishment (Matt 25:46), 3) Outer darkness (Matt 8:12), 4) Eternal destruction (2 Thess 1:9) and finally 5) Lake of fire (Rev 19:20). We have to make up our minds now to decide that we will boldly share the gospel no matter how daunting the task may seem and that takes me to my final point.
My last point touches on the fear of the preaching of the gospel which I’ve already covered in my previous blog when I talked about persecution. Because the gospel is offensive, it is also confrontational therefore people face the fear of being ridiculed and rejected. But let me add this, since we know the reality of hell; are we still going to be selfish and not share the gospel with those who are still lost?
Like I’ve also mentioned previously, Jesus has this promise for us “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the words I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master, if they persecute me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.” – John 15:18-20.
We have been promised persecution as Christians whether a not we chose to share the gospel, therefore sharing the gospel should not be an excuse at all, because sharing the gospel has got no co-relation with persecution. As we have already established that fact that the gospel itself is offensive, so it makes no difference to us whether a not we are going to be ridiculed by preaching it. Persecution is part and parcel of the Christian living because we chose to follow the ways of Christ which is ultimately very different from the world and we are bound to face a lot of conflicts, and therefore as a result of that, meet with persecution for our faith and our conviction.
The fear of persecution or rejection shouldn’t deter us from sharing the gospel for we must remember what is at stake - the lives and soul of our love ones. The love that we have for them should motivate us and stir us to compassion as we pray and seek the Lord for their salvation. Realising that the time is near, we must ask the Lord for the courage to reach out to those who are still lost and preach the gospel to them. Remember heaven is real and so is hell. Make up your mind now!
God bless you!
Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle –
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King
