I am so dumbfounded at hearing good preachers, preach good sermons and not put the Biblical, Scriptural gospel in them. The sad thing is as Vance Havner said, "They think they have preached the gospel."
Define the gospel. God the Holy Spirit said, "I declare unto you the gospel...how that
1. Christ died for our sins"
2. "that he was buried"
3. that he rose again...
4. that he was seen of Cephas...seen of the twelve...was seen of above five hundred brethren... was seen of James...was seen of me also." Now notice this.
1. "How Christ died for our SINS". The gospel is NOT that Christ died on a cross. those two thieves and thousands of others, died on a cross but NOT for our Sins. Our sins is the whole problem, "the wages of sins is death". The gospel is not "Christ died for us". Those military people are dying for us but not for our SINS. We must make it clear for any unsaved person to understand.
2. "He was buried" for three days, proof He was dead
3. "He rose again." He is alive and still living no other so called god or savior was seen alive from the dead. Not Buddha, not Confucius, not Allah, not any one. Jesus is uniquely God manifest in the flesh. People need to know that. .
4. "He was seen" Proof He is alive. Notice the emphasis on "he was seen." How many times have you heard this said in preaching or in any teaching on witnessing? Is it important" YES. Notice Acts 1:3 "To whom He (Jesus) also shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being SEEN of them forty days." Do you get any idea being seen was important from that verse in the eternal Word of God? I DO.
Now get this."one must be ordained (to take Judas' place) to be a witness with us of the resurrection...that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship" 1:22-25. Notice "this Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses" Acts 2:32.
"And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raise from the dead whereof we are witnesses" Acts 3:15.
"And with great power gave the apostles; witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all" Acts 4:33.
"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus...and we are his witnesses of these things" Acts 5:30, 32.
This is the Biblical, inspired definition of the gospel. Try it and see what happens when you present the Biblical full gospel
Years ago God impressed me with these four points of the gospel and I began to use it. It is startling how many hundreds have said, "I never heard it like that before". I have seen a lot greater percentage get saved.
"They rehearsed all that God had done with them" Acts 14:27. They were not boasting. They were telling what God did. How we need to do that today and for it to be just as normal as breathing. When have you seen "a demonstration of the power of God" in your life? We need to tell about it to encourage others to hunger for it. Call 1-877-872-2871 to order my tract "Your Ticket to Heaven" We are seeing the power of God as we use it.
No comments:
Post a Comment