Preaching the Gospel

Q: What does the Bible say about preaching the gospel?

The Bible emphasizes that preaching the gospel is essential, as reflected in 1 Corinthians 9:16, where Paul declares, 'woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.' In Scripture, preaching the gospel is presented as a fundamental duty of believers, particularly for those called to ministry. In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul underscores the necessity of preaching when he states, 'woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.' This sentiment reflects the urgency and obligation felt by true servants of God. Preaching the gospel is not merely a task; it is a divine command, a privilege, and a means through which God connects with His people. It is through the proclamation of the gospel that God's grace and truth are conveyed to a lost world, facilitating reconciliation between God and humanity.

Q: How do we know true preaching is important?

True preaching is vital as it brings the message of reconciliation and grace from God, as articulated in Romans 10:14-15. True preaching holds immense importance because it acts as the channel through which God resolves the separation between Himself and humanity. Romans 10:14-15 provides clarity on this point, indicating that people cannot believe in what they have not heard and cannot hear without a preacher. This underscores the role of preaching as foundational to faith. Authentic preaching delivers the message of Christ's finished work, offering hope, salvation, and the promise of eternal life. Without this preaching of the gospel, individuals remain in darkness, unaware of the saving grace available to them.

Q: Why is the gospel of Christ essential for Christians?

The gospel of Christ is essential because it embodies the truth of reconciliation with God, as highlighted in 2 Corinthians 5:19. The gospel of Christ is essential for Christians as it serves as the cornerstone of their faith and relationship with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, it is expressed that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. This reconciliation means that through Christ’s sacrifice, believers are no longer enemies of God but are brought into a harmonious relationship with Him. The gospel conveys the promises of forgiveness, grace, and eternal life—truths central to Christian faith. Consequently, the gospel shapes the identity and purpose of believers, calling them to proclaim this good news to others.

Q: How does the gospel affect our relationship with God?

The gospel transforms our relationship with God by reconciling us to Him through Jesus Christ, according to Romans 5:10. The gospel fundamentally transforms our relationship with God by addressing the alienation caused by sin. Romans 5:10 articulates that while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. This reconciliation signifies not only the restoration of friendship but also the establishment of a new status as children of God. Through faith in Christ, believers can approach God confidently at the throne of grace, which reflects His mercy and love. The gospel assures us of our standing before God and invites believers to live in light of this relationship.

I'm going to be preaching today
from the book of I Corinthians. The text will be taken from chapter
9, I Corinthians 9, verse 16. Now here's the title of the message,
Preaching the Gospel, Preaching the Gospel. Paul wrote in I Corinthians
9, verse 16, For though I preach the gospel, I preach the gospel. I have nothing to glory of, for
necessity, necessity is laid upon me. Yea, listen, woe is
unto me if I preach not the gospel." Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel, the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, the gospel
of His grace, the gospel of His glory. That's what it's called
in the Scripture, the gospel of the glory of God. Now, I know,
and I regret this, but I know that most preaching today and
most preachers in this day are a far cry from the apostles,
a far cry from the faithful preachers in the Word of God, in the Reformation,
in the past. It's sad. It's sad and it's shocking. It's shocking to listen to many
people who call themselves preachers, unprepared, untaught in the scriptures,
self-motivated, vainglover. It's so sad, it's so shocking
to listen to what is called preaching today. We have the entertainers,
we have the emotionalists, they put on religious shows, extravaganzas. They act like cheerleaders at
a ball game. I see these preachers running
up and down, acting like cheerleaders, getting people all built up,
you know, and excited, and they just... people act like, you
know, puppets, just do whatever the preacher says, do, say whatever
he says, say, they're just entertainers, emotionless. I can't imagine
the apostle Paul or James or Peter or John These men of the
past, Whitefield, Knox, Luther, Spurgeon, these great preachers,
I can't imagine them acting like that. And we have the promoters
today, the builders of religious empires and organizations. They're just unembarrassed, unashamed
money raisers. They're just money raisers. That's
all. They're promoters and money raisers. If they were in the
business world, they'd be con men. Most of them would be in
prison if they was in the business world. misusing funds but that's
and that's what we have today going under the name preacher
it's no wonder people are disgusted and shocked and turned off and
majority of folks don't even go to church I don't blame them
we have the debaters we have the denominationalists we have
the intellectuals we have the professionals it's a sad day
in America a sad sad day I watch some of these money raisers and
some of these men. I know enough about the Scripture.
I've been preaching 40 years. I've been pastor of the same
church for 40 years. And I know enough about the Word
of God. I know enough about preaching. I know enough about the Spirit
of God. And I know enough about the gospel
of Christ to know these men, the majority of them, are dishonest
men. They're dishonest with the Scriptures,
they're dishonest with their congregations, they're dishonest
in every way. And they're not glorifying God
at all. They're an embarrassment to me.
But let me tell you something. You listen to me. True preachers
and true preaching is still to be found. That's right. If you
look, if you look, if you listen, if you're careful and listen,
And God's never without a witness. God has his preachers today.
You'll find in the Scriptures that God has never left himself
without a witness. There are men today called, God
called of God, sent of God, anointed of God, taught of God, who are
true to the Scriptures, who are honest men, who are not misusing
people and using people, who are not robbing people. who are
not living off the fat of the land. There are true preachers
today. They're there. Sometimes they're
hard to find, but they can be found. If you're careful, if
you listen and look and search, you'll find one of God's true
preachers because in the Word of God, true preaching and true
preachers are elevated. That's right. They're really
exalted. The true preacher is greatly
used of God. God uses men. to bless people,
to preach the gospel. God uses me. God is, in the first
chapter of John, it says, there was a man sent from God whose
name was John. And when the Ethiopian eunuch
was journeying from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, God sent Philip. God sent Peter to Cornelius.
God sent Ananias to Solitarsis. God will send a preacher, a true
preacher, an honest preacher, a straightforward preacher, God's
man. There are few of them. They're
here and there. And true preaching is honored in the Scripture.
You see, Noah, what do you know Noah for? What's the first thing
that comes to your mind when you think of Noah? He built an ark.
The Bible calls him a preacher, a preacher of righteousness.
His greatest work was not building the ark, preaching the gospel. Solomon, what do you know about
Solomon? Well, Solomon was king of Israel. Solomon was the richest
wisest, most powerful king Israel ever had. No. First and foremost, he was a
preacher. He said that himself. He said in Ecclesiastes 1, 1
and 2, I, Solomon, the preacher, I, the preacher, was king over
Israel. He didn't say the king over Israel
was a preacher. He said the preacher was king
over Israel. His first foremost calling was
to preach the truth of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher.
In Mark 1.14, it says, Jesus came into Galilee preaching,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. He wasn't preaching like
these folks are preaching today. He preached the gospel, the gospel. Mark 16, when our Lord sent His
disciples out to preach, He told them to go into all the world
and do what? Preach the gospel. He didn't
tell them to build great monuments to themselves and build places
to entertain people. He said, go preach the gospel.
I Corinthians 121, God hath chosen by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Well, not the preaching of foolishness,
but the foolishness of preaching. Preaching, you see, preaching
the cross, preaching substitution, preaching Christ. is to a lot
of people called foolishness, sheer nonsense. But it's the
power of God to salvation. And He said He chose by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Listen to Romans 10.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But the question comes, how shall they call on Him in whom they've
not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? That is, as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel, that
bring glad tidings of good things, good news from a far country."
I know this is referring mainly to our Messiah, how beautiful
are His feet. But how beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel? God has called them, God has
sent them, and I'll tell you, we may be, we may be at a very
low ebb in this country, and we are, for a fact. We're at
a low ebb as far as preachers and preaching is concerned. They're
an embarrassment to everybody, but I'll tell you, God's preacher
is still with us. They may be in the hills of West
Virginia, on the plains of Kansas, or down in Florida. They may
be in the of the hollers in Kentucky, but God has His preachers, true
men, honest men who can say with Paul, I preach the gospel. Necessity is laid upon me. Yea,
woe is unto me if I don't preach the gospel. You know, Isaiah
61, chapter 61, verse 1 says, The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because He hath anointed me to preach good tidings to
the meek, to preach good news, the gospel. God's true preacher
is an ambassador of Christ. He's an ambassador of Jesus Christ.
Now you listen to me. He's God's messenger. He's not
the messenger of the denomination. He's not the messenger of a school
of theology. He's God's messenger. He's God's
ambassador. He's the bondservant of Jesus
Christ. He's not a man pleaser. He's
the bondservant of the Son of God. He's not an organizer. He's
not a denominational rubber stamp. He's a prophet. He's a proclaimer. He proclaims liberty to the captives. He proclaims peace to the enemies
of God by faith. He proclaims pardon to guilty
sinners. He proclaims the grace and mercy
of God to sinners. He's a proclaimer, a prophet,
an ambassador of Christ. a bondservant of Jesus Christ,
the messenger of God Almighty, and he's not for sale. And he
can't be bought. And he can't be persuaded away
from that gospel. And you can't offer him anything
in this world that will entice him not to preach that gospel. That's right. God's true preacher,
we still have him. God's never been without a witness. God's true preacher is a man
of one message. That's right. One message. Paul
said, we preach Christ. That's our message. We preach
Christ and Him crucified. You know, when he talked about
going down to Corinth, he said, Corinth, the city of philosophers,
debaters and educators and intellectuals and whatever. But he said, I
determined, I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Christ in Him." We preach not
ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. The disciples went forth preaching,
the Scripture says, and they preached peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. And you remember
when Philip got up in that chariot beside the Ethiopian eunuch and
they were reading Isaiah 53 and the Scripture says this, and
Philip began at the same Scripture and preached Jesus to him. That's
our Christ is our message. Christ is our message. We preach
Christ and Him crucified. God's true servant is a man of
one message, and that message is Christ Jesus our Lord. Over
in 2 John, there's only one chapter in that little book, verses 9
and 10. I want you to listen to this.
2 John, verse 9 and 10. What I'm saying is that God has
His true preachers. They're His messengers. They're
His bondservants and His ambassadors. And they have one message, and
that message is Christ. And everything they preach is
related to the Son of God. They come to exalt His name,
to magnify His name, to preach His name, to proclaim His name. They come that people might rest
in His name and believe in His name and rejoice in His name
and understand more more about the glories of that name. But
listen to II John 9 and 10, "...whosoever transgresseth and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ hath not God." Now, you think about
that a little bit. The man who transgresseth and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, and everything's related
to Christ, Everything we have is in Christ. Read Ephesians
1 sometime and underline the many times it says, in Christ,
by Christ, through Christ, for Christ. But whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. And he
that abideth, he that stays and continues in that doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. That's God's true
preacher. He's not going to get off into
healing and get off into tongues and get off into the gifts and
get off into prophecy and get off into Armageddon and get off
into entertainment and get off into all these different things.
He's going to abide in the doctrine of Christ. For whoso transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. But whoso
abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the
Son. If there come any unto you, any preachers unto you, and bring
not the doctrine of Christ, receive them not into your home, neither
bid them God's speed, don't help them, don't support them, they
have not God." I don't know how anything could be clearer in
the Scriptures. Any person who does not abide in, that's continue,
that's a lifelong ministry. He continues in the doctrine
of Christ. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
Christ Jesus, everything related to Him, in Him, of Him, through
Him, by Him, for His glory. If a man doesn't abide in that,
he has not God. But whosoever continueth and
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the
Son. That's the man I want to follow. That's the man I want
to listen to. That's the man I want to teach
me, the man that has the Father and the Son and who continues
and abides in the doctrine of Christ. If there come any unto
you, any, Paul said, if it's an angel from heaven and preaches
any other gospel, let him be accursed. If they come any unto
you and bring not the doctrine of Christ, don't receive them
into your home and don't bid them God's speed. That is, don't
help them, don't support them. We preach Christ. We're determined
to know nothing but Christ. Why? Well, here are four or five
reasons. Listen. Why do we preach Christ? Why do we preach Jesus Christ
in Him crucified? Why is our every message zeroes
in on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Well, first of
all, for this reason, our God, the living God, the Almighty
God in Christ is a reconciled God in Christ. He's reconciled
to sinners like me and you. Out of Christ, God's a consuming
fire. You don't want anything to do
with an angry God, do you? It says in II Corinthians 5.19,
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. In Romans
5.10, it says, when we were enemies, we were reconciled. You know
what reconcile means? Make friends again. Here are
two people battling and you go in and you help them to get reconciled. What do you mean reconcile? Come
together in unity and harmony and accord. Quit fighting. Love
each other. Reconcile. And when we were enemies
of God, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by the life of
His Son. God Almighty out of Christ is
an angry God. God said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. He that believeth not on the
Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. You see, God's holiness
and God's justice and God's truth will not allow him to accept
you in your sins and in your rebellion and in your evil. That's
why you need a Savior. That's why I need a Savior. That's
why you need a substitute. That's why I need a substitute.
That's why I need somebody to take my sins and pay for them.
And you do too, because God can't accept us in the mess we're in.
God sent Christ to be our Savior. Now listen to Colossians 1 verse
19. It pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness dwell. having made peace through the
blood of his cross by Christ by Christ to reconcile all things
to himself I say by Christ whether the things in heaven or earth
and you That were one time enemies hath Jesus Christ now reconcile
That's why I preach Christ I know the Lord heals whom He pleases
to heal, but I need my soul healed. I need my sins forgiven. I need
to be redeemed. I need to be saved. I need a
substitute. I need a Savior. And that's the
important thing. Our God in Christ is a reconciled
God. That's why we must preach Christ.
And Paul said to preach the same things to you is not tiresome,
for you it's safe. We preach Christ, for in Christ
our God is a promising God. In Christ? I hear people talk
about the promises of God, the promises of God, the promise
of forgiveness, the promise of salvation, the promise of heaven,
the promise of healing, the promise of eternal glory. Oh, there are
many promises. Peter called them great and precious
promises. But now hold on a minute. Now
hold on a minute. Where are the promises of God?
Where are they to be found? Do you believe the Word of God?
Listen, II Corinthians 1.20, all the promises of God in Christ
are yes, and in Christ are amen to the glory of God. Where are
the promises of God? In Christ. There's nothing for
you outside of Christ. He that hath the Son hath eternal
life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life." There are no promises outside of Christ to anybody.
All things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. For who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who can condemn us? It's
Christ that died. Who can separate us from the
love of Christ? Love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. God, who spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not in Him, with
Him, freely give us all things?" Where? In Christ. You haven't
got a prayer outside of Christ. You don't have a place to stand
outside of Christ. All the promises of God are in
Christ Jesus, yes, and in Him. Amen to the glory of God. That's
why we preach Christ. And it's not fair for preachers
to stand up and beg and bargain and sell trinkets and con people
and promise them if they'll tie, God'll do this, and if they'll
plant a seed, God'll do that. That's a bunch of fundraising
baloney. You look to Christ. Rest in Christ
Jesus. Believe on him. If God ever brings
him to your heart, you'll give, and it won't be motivated out
of greed, and motivated for gain, and motivated by reward, and
motivated because you're scared of hell, and motivated because
some poor preacher's going off the air. It'll be motivated because
you love Christ Jesus, and God loves you in Christ, and you've
got a loving relationship with the Heavenly Father. And that's
the only basis for any kind of service, worship, preaching,
faith, or anything else. It's because of Christ. That's
just hard, but it's so. And it's time we got straight
with people. It's time people quit being deceived
by these hucksters. Merchandisers of souls is what
they are. They're interested in gain, not
godliness. Your hope's in Christ, my friend.
not in sending me a dollar or keeping me on there. It's in
Christ. If God wants me on there, I'll be on there next Sunday.
If He doesn't, I'll go off. I'm a preacher of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. And I want you to know Christ,
Him, Him alone. And thirdly, we preach Christ
because in Christ, our God sits on a throne of grace. Someone
said God has a threefold throne. He's got a throne of glory. Isaiah
saw Him high and lifted up, and His glory filled the temple.
You don't want anything to do with that throne of glory. I
don't either. He dwells in a light to which
no man can approach. Our God sits on the throne of
justice, and you don't want anything to do with that throne of justice
either. Our God is a God of justice, and you don't want justice. I
want mercy, don't you? I don't want justice. David said,
God, don't bring me into judgment with thee. I don't want to face
God. And no honest man wants anything
to do with an absolute God. We want a Savior. We want a Mediator. But God dwells, because of Christ,
on the throne of grace. Grace. The sacrifice of Christ. Seeing we have a great high priest,
let us come boldly before a throne of grace. What is grace? Grace is mercy and love and kindness
to the undeserving, the ill-deserving, the hell-deserving. Grace is
God giving you what you don't deserve. Mercy is God not giving
you what we do deserve. We come to Christ, the throne
of grace, grace, grace, His grace, sovereign grace, effectual grace,
prevenient grace, restraining grace. keeping grace, glorifying
grace. Everything I have by grace, I
am what I am by the grace of God. Through Christ Jesus, my
Lord, He loved me and gave Himself for me. I love Him because He
first loved me. I seek Him because He sought
me. We call on Him because He called on us. To God be the glory. We preach Christ. Everything
I have is in Him, because of Him, for His glory, and by Him,
and through Him, and you too, if we have anything. Fourthly,
we preach Christ because our God in Christ is identified with
us. That's how this whole thing came
about. The angel came down and said
to Joseph, call His name Jesus. That holy thing which is conceived
in the womb of Mary is the Son of God, the Son of God. And you
call His name Jesus because He's going to save His people from
their sins. The fulfillment of what Isaiah the prophet said,
call his name Emmanuel, God with us. This is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. This is the gospel message. Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. He said, I'm come that they might
have life. I'm come to seek and to save
the lost. He died the just for the unjust
to bring us to God. HE WAS MADE SIN FOR US WHO KNEW
NO SIN, THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM."
HAVE YOU HEARD THAT GOOD NEWS? WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO HEAR THE
PREACHERS OF TODAY QUIT BEGGING AND SELLING AND ENTERTAINING
AND COME BACK TO PREACHING CHRIST SO THAT SINNERS COULD HAVE A
FOUNDATION AND A HOPE AND SOME COMFORT? IS THERE ANYONE CAN
HELP US WHO CAN GIVE A SINNER PEACE WHEN HIS HEART IS BURDENED
DOWN WITH PAIN AND WOE? who can speak a word of pardon
that affords a sweet release, whose blood can wash and make
us white as snow. Yes, there's one, only one, but
blessed, blessed Jesus, He's the one. So when afflictions
press my soul and waves of trouble roll and I need a friend to help
me, He's the one, Christ and Him crucified. You want this
tape? It's called Preaching the Gospel,
Preaching the Gospel. Got another one on the other
side. Send $2 and we'll mail it to you. God bless you, everyone.

Preaching the Gospel

What does the Bible say about preaching the gospel?

How do we know true preaching is important?

Why is the gospel of Christ essential for Christians?

How does the gospel affect our relationship with God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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Preaching the Gospel

What does the Bible say about preaching the gospel?

How do we know true preaching is important?

Why is the gospel of Christ essential for Christians?

How does the gospel affect our relationship with God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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