What do you consider the greatest knowledge you have? If you're a teacher, maybe you learned the best teaching techniques from a prominent university. If you're a carpenter, maybe you learned the most advanced way of reconstructing broken down homes. If you're a salesman, maybe your greatest advantage is knowing how to read people in order to sell your product. Whatever you consider to be the most advantageous piece of knowledge you possess...it pales compared to knowing the truth of Jesus Christ.
That is what Paul is really trying to say to the Corinthians in this text. Paul tells the Corinthians in 2:1, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom." What Paul is really saying, is that he didn't have to sugar coat the gospel. He doesn't need to have a degree in public speaking from the best university in the world to accurately and effectively preach the gospel. All Paul wanted to portray was Jesus Christ and His gospel.
So what does this mean for us? You don't have to be an eloquent speaker to share the gospel. You don't have to be a brilliant communicator to effectively preach the gospel. All you need...IS THE GOSPEL!
But Why? Isn't someone with great speaking ability, like Billy Graham or John Piper, more successful at making disciples or converts? Though men like Billy Graham may be effective in their speaking, it is not their ability to speak that brings about results...it is the power of God's Word that makes the hearers hear!
Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." It is the power that belongs to God that makes His Word effective...not the speaker. Notice how in this verse in Isaiah, God says, "my mouth". Even when His Word is preached from a human, it is God who is doing the speaking. We are simply the instruments that God uses to share His Word. As John Piper said, "To be a conduit of God's grace, you don't need to be lined with gold, copper will do." What great truth! We don't have to be great speakers to tell people of the great grace and gift that God provides in Jesus Christ.
Be encouraged...God is willing to use you in ANY situation to share His gospel. You don't have to be a great speaker or even a preacher...you just need to say what God has already said.
"And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Romans 10:14). It is our responsibility to proclaim the gospel, God has the results covered. Just a few verses later, in 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth." Paul is referring to the preaching of the gospel. Paul and Apollos preached and proclaimed the gospel, but the effective results of salvation was wrought by God, not by those who proclaimed.
So do not hesitate to tell the world. Do not be discouraged. According to Romans 1:18-20, God has already begun the work in the hearts of ALL people. They have suppressed the truth. It is our responsibility to tell them about Jesus, His death and resurrection and let God unleash the truth they have hidden away in their wickedness. We should never be discouraged when we share the gospel and people persecute us or don't believe. Our faithfulness is to share, God will deal with the results of the gospel we proclaim. So there are no more excuses for us! Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. As Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."
Please take this last piece of knowledge with grace, it is meant to encourage, not discourage. How willing are you to take responsibility for those you know that don't know Christ? When we don't tell them the truth, we are essentially telling God that we are comfortable with letting them suffer eternally in hell. True love for those people will tell them the truth, no matter how they might respond or how they will think of us after we tell them. Compassion for their lost souls is part of our motivation. If you don't have compassion for their lost souls, what motivates you to share? We desire to see all people worship the True Almighty God of the Universe. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Are we really ok with them falling into an angry God's hands? If you're not, then TELL THEM! Pray that God would create in you a heart of compassion and love for those who don't know God. And then watch as he develops a heart of worship in you that desires to see the lost come to the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ!
1 comment:
I really liked this one. I pray that God will give me the compassion and love to share with those who don't know Jesus regardless of the outcome.
Post a Comment