We Are Not Ashamed of the Gospel

By Samuel E. Ward   July 22, 2012   As we have noted . . . I. We Are Communicators of the Gospel. The Scriptures teach us that we need to use our mouths to speak with passion and conviction life-changing truths to those whom we would hope would accept Christ as Savior.  Though we were not eye-witnesses to the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we do possess reliable eye-witness testimony to these events that form the historical basis of the gospel.  With this testimony we seek to explain its significance to others using persuasive arguments whenever the opportunity presents itself.  We are to defend, confirm, and contend for the gospel as priest-teachers to the world. In the exercise of this ministry we must also recognize that . . . II. We Are Carriers of the Gospel Becky Tirabassi wrote in Wild Things Happen When I Pray: God's Holy Spirit orchestrates our lives to touch others—strangers, friends, work-related people, service-industry workers and more—if we would just open up and be ourselves. How? Be free to be in love with Jesus in front of people. Be an ambassador through whom he can introduce himself. There is a world out there, hungry and searching for Jesus and his love. Don't keep him to yourself.[1] A. The Mission and Focus of the Church:  You will be witnesses to the ends of the earth. 1. The universal scope of the Church's mission, Acts 1:6-8; 2:38-39 (Acts 1:6-8 NIV)  So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" {7} He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. {8} But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 2:38-39 NIV)  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. {39} The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." 2. The progressive movement of the Church's mission modeled, (Rom 15:18-20 NIV)  I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-- {19} by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. {20} It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. 3. The current state of modern missionary activity. Mark R Baxter wrote this in The Coming Revolution: Because Status Quo Missions Won't Finish the Job. Of foreign mission funding: 87% goes for work among those already Christian. 12% for work among already evangelized, but non-Christian. 1% for work among the unevangelized and unreached people.[2] B. The Practice of the Early Church 1. The apostles went from the temple courts and from house to house, Acts 5:42. (Acts 5:41-42 NIV)  The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. {42} Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. 2. Some were divinely appointed to specific persons and groups, Acts 8:26; 9:15. a. Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:26 (Acts 8:26-27 NIV)  Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." {27} So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship. b. Saul of Tarsus (the apostle Paul) to the Gentiles (Acts 9:11-16 NIV)  The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. {12} In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." {13} "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. {14} And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." {15} But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. {16} I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." 3. The persecuted church preached wherever they were scattered, Acts 11:19-21. (Acts 11:19-21 NIV)  Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. {20} Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. {21} The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. a. Persecution has in history been a means employed by God force the church to "Go!" In fact, the church seems to grow fastest where it is persecuted the most.   "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."  --Tertullian b. James, the half-brother of Jesus wrote this about suffering for Christ's sake: (James 1:2-3 NIV)  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, {3} because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Richard Wurmbrand (1909 – 2001) was a Jewish Romanian Christian pastor. Who lived during a time of great persecution of Christians in his country.  He dared to proclaim himself a believer in Jesus Christ as Messiahand to say openly that Communism and Christianity were not compatible.  For that he experienced imprisonment and was tortured for his beliefs.  We have never experienced the grace and joy under suffering he describes he knew while suffering for Christ in prison.  He wrote in Tortured for Christ,  "It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy." [3] ― Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured For Christ There are three reasons why you should never give up after your first apparent unsuccessful attempt at witnessing: 1. You are not the judge of what is" successful." 2. You will be better at it the second time and after that the third, fourth, fifth and five-hundredth time. The following was noted by Leith Anderson to illustrate the reward of perseverance and "word of mouth" advertising that he thinks might have an application to our being faithful in our witness of Jesus Christ. When John Grisham wrote a book called A Time To Kill, it sold just five thousand copies in hard cover. I don't think it was advertised, ever made a list or was reviewed by anybody that I know of. It was sort of a flop. Then he wrote The Firm, and it wasn't advertised either. It was hardly reviewed, and the reviews it got weren't very good. But people read it and liked it and told other people they liked it and The Firm sold seven million copies. John Grisham has written several other books, and today the number-one paperback best seller in the United States is by John Grisham, as are number-two and number-three. And the number-one hardcover best seller is by John Grisham. That has never happened before in history, and it's not because of advertising, not because of the publisher's clever marketing plan, but because somebody liked the book. I guess a lot of people liked the book and told other people, until millions of these books have been sold. Christians are people who like Jesus. They've experienced him, and so they tell somebody else. It doesn't take a newspaper ad. It doesn't take a review in a magazine. Evangelism is people who like Jesus and have experienced him, telling other people, until it has spread to thousands and millions and tens of millions and hundreds of million and more.[4] As witnesses to who Jesus is and what He has done for us, to whom do we speak first?   We start with our friends and relatives.  Why?  We usually have the opportunity to have an extended conversation with them which affords a greater likelihood of explaining the gospel to them.  Also, we are more likely to have multiple opportunities to share.  Don't forget to invite them to church.   Seventy-nine per cent of people who start going to church do so because a friend or relative invited them to come with them.  But even if your friend or relative begins to come on a regular basis, the task is not complete until the gospel has been communicated to them in such a way that they would know how to respond to it.  As a friend or relative, you must be alert to your opportunities to win them. [1]Becky Tirabassi, From Wild Things Happen When I Pray.  Copyright 1993 by Becky Tirabassi. [2] Baxter, Mark R. 2007. The Coming Revolution: Because Status Quo Missions Won't Finish the Job. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing. [3] Richard Wurmbranda, Living Sacrifice Book Company; 30th Anniversary edition (March 1, 1998) [4] Leith Anderson, "Making More Disciples," Preaching Today, Tape No. 165.