Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Proclamational Necessity

“…the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.”
-Mark 6:10

“…they continued to preach the gospel.”
- Acts 14:7

“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
- 1 Corinthians 9:16

“I do it all for the sake of the gospel…”
- 1 Corinthians 9:23

“But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you…”
- 2 Corinthians 10:15-16

“…nothing could be more inconsistent with the nature of faith than that deadness which would lead a man to disregard his brethren, and to keep the light of (gospel) knowledge choked up within his own breast.”
- John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah 2:3

“How many of us believe truly that but for the intervention of God in our lives we would be damned and lost?
- D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Evangelistic Sermons, p. 2

“When we don’t sufficiently consider what God has done for us in Christ – the high cost of it, what it means, and what Christ’s significance is - we lose the heart to evangelize.”
- Mark Dever, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, p. 28



Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

How important is the proclamation of the gospel to the life of the church? Can the church truly be the church without gospel proclamation? As I’ve begun to this recent study in Acts I’ve been amazed at how pervasive the gospel witness through proclamation was in the life of the early church. I’ve known this, but it has been reinforced in these days. Everything revolved around the proclamation of the good news. Both converts and enemies were made, people met from house to house, instruction was given, Stephen was martyred, people sold possessions, others were healed, demons were cast out, missionaries were sent, churches were planted, people were thrown in prison, and all because a message was proclaimed. This message was simple and yet it was like no other. It was a message of reconciliation and a message of incredible consequence. God became a man and was attested to by the miraculous. He lived for 33 years and then was crucified at the hands of wicked men and then He rose from the dead and was seen by hundreds, and He now occupies a place of authority. The gospel proclamation is one of good news resulting in repentance and forgiveness - turn from your sin and believe the good news of the gospel and your many sins will be forgiven. This message is the central message of the Christian faith and as such should be the central message of the church. The church must be the place of proclamation, both within her walls and outside of her walls. This is the only hope for sinful men and women, boys and girls. Where does that leave us? We have the privilege of making the gospel proclamation central and we must be the glad people that make the gospel known. Our lives are to be happily given to recounting and declaring the good-news message in every possible way.

Grateful for the good news proclaimed,

Dan

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