And how shall they Preach

Post date: Jul 17, 2015 4:18:14 PM

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.” (Romans 10:15)

The Gospel that I’ve experienced changes lives. At the start of his earthly ministry Jesus quoted from the book of Isaiah where he recited; “The Spirit is upon me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19) In the first century after the resurrection of Jesus a devout, God-fearing, Centurion guard named Cornelius was the first recorded person outside of the nation of Israel to be accepted by God.  The scripture states; “But in every nation whoever fears him, and works righteousness is accepted by him.”(Acts 10: 35) God assures us in His word “that through his name whoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10: 43) Cornelius and his family gladly received the gift of salvation and then by the laying on of hands they received the gift of the promised Holy Spirit.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and for the Greek.

For years I assumed that the term “gospel” referred only to the books of the New Testament, however, after reading this scripture my view changed. “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Hebrews 4:2) For clarification the noun “them” of this passage refers to those Old Testament persons who fled Egypt under the leadership of Moses but rebelled after hearing the message of truth while the noun “us” speaks of the New Testament believers who after hearing the message have followed Jesus and have embraced the promises of God through faith.This scripture speaks of one message preached to two different peoples in two different eras with two different reactions.   What was the message that was preached?

Exodus 12:41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years -on that very same day -it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

Moses life can be summarized as follows: He was born a slave, raised a prince, struck by misfortune, shamed, rejected by man, became a shepherd, called by God, accepted by grace and led a nation. Through Moses’ renewed faith and his divinely inspired persistence the entire nation of Hebrew slaves (600,000 or more persons) were in just one day released by their Egyptian captors. For the next forty years through the leadership of Moses and in submission to the Lords’ guidance and direction this nation of desert wanderers freely tasted of the wonders of Gods’ salvation. They received forgiveness, favor and mercy while miraculously experiencing the parting of the Red Sea, safe passage across a dry sea bed, deliverance from their enemies, a sufficient water supply in the desert and a daily ration of “angels” food (manna). After all of these miracles and blessings the scripture records that God was angry with “them” “because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation” (Psalm 78:22)

God displayed his undying love for all people when he sent his Christ from Heaven to declare the good news of the Kingdom to all who had “ears to hear” firstly to the lost sheep of Israel and then to the entire world. Simon Peter highlights the ministry of Jesus in this sermon where he states; “You  that are Israelite's, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know: this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you  have crucified  and killed by the hands outside of the law. But God raised him up, having feed him from death: because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2: 22-24)

Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that the blindness on part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in.

In his own words the Apostle Paul confesses “…I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” (1 Timothy 1: 13-14) Paul learned that he like all of us was not without guilt before God so for this reason he writes; “For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, less the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness: but unto us which are saved it is the power of God“.  (1 Corinthians 1: 17-18) The track record of the Apostle Paul speaks for itself. “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them."  (Acts 19:11-12)

Romans 15:29 And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Gospel: Greek definition; euaggellzo: to announce good news, bring glad, good tidings.

Christ: Greek definition; christos; anointed i.e. Messiah

Gospel of Christ: To announce good news, glad tidings of the AnointedOne.

Jesus gives us some insights into the definition of the “gospel of Christ” when He prays; “Father the hour is come, glorify the Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”. (John 17: 2-3) He continues in prayer and says; “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” (John: 17: 6) It is also stated “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”(Acts 10: 38) The Apostle Paul “determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2) and that his“preaching was not with enticing words of mans’ wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”. (1 Corinthians 2: 4)

The Gospel of Christ: a specific message for a specific time, a specific purpose with specific results.