Preaching – TGN

Warning Signs of Bewitchment II

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 05:52:48 +0000

In the previous article, we considered three signs that could indicate that a Church is veering off the track of sound doctrine.

In this concluding part, we discuss three more warning signs we are heading down the path of bewitchment.

Dear Christian,

Watch it if,

The Pastor and Elders Avoid the Doctrine of Christian Suffering

I have found that an inadequate theology of Christian suffering breeds all kinds of erroneous teachings.

Pastors and teachers who water down or dismiss Christian suffering promise you a Christianity that is entirely devoid of challenges, failures, or any form of hardship for that matter.

When there is no robust theology of suffering, believers are not prepared for the rudiments of living in a fallen world. Pastors who teach a suffering-free Christian life promise their members something the Bible does not.

Jesus said,

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

(John 15:20)

In the same breath that Jesus promised to build His church, he predicted that the gates of hell would strive to knock it down, but it will not prevail (Matt. 16:18). Clearly, Jesus wanted His disciples to prepare for persecutions.

We see the apostles of Christ doing the same.

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:21).

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—

2Thess. 1:5

and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith,that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

(1Thes. 3:3-4).

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

(2Tim 3:12).

Sufferings and persecutions are part and parcel of the Christian life. Not just persecution suffering, but bodily suffering as well, including sicknesses and disease.

Paul said in this body, we groan as we await the redemption of the body which is to come, when our imperfect bodies will be clothed with immortality (Rom. 8:23, 2Cor 5:1-2).

We see from Scripture that God has ordained suffering as part of our sanctification (1Pet. 4:12-14; 2Cor.12:7-10).

An absence of a robust theology of suffering should cause the alarm bells to go off in our hearts.

The Pastor and Elders Justify an Extravagant Lifestyle

During Paul’s ministry, there were some who opposed his apostolicity, because they thought that he suffered too much to be a true apostle. In contrast to Paul, these false teachers seemed to live large off the congregation that Paul had laboured to establish through the grace of God. Those guys were making a merchandise of the gospel (2 Cor. 2:17, cf 2Pet. 2:1-3).

In his defence, Paul argued that although he had every right to demand material benefits from the congregation, he and his companions refrained from doing so, but instead worked hard with their own hands to not be a burden on them (2Cor. 11:9; cf 1Thes. 2:9). Self-denial is the mark of faithful servants of Christ.

When a Pastor is obsessed with the latest and most expensive cars, is overly concerned about wearing the latest trends in clothes, and brags about his travels around the world, the property he owns or intends to acquire etc, it is a warning sign that all is not well.

Congregations who indulge extravagant elders and Pastors find that there is an undue emphasis on giving to servants of God, mostly, to keep up the lifestyle of extravagance.

Congregations show warning signs of bewitchment when they find that they gradually desire that same life of extravagance, rather than simple living and contentment with whatever God grants them out of His Sovereignty.

You find Yourself Justifying Everything Your Pastor Does and Says Even When It Is Unbiblical

In a church that my family and I attended for a while, the sub-group in which I served set up an online group for Bible discussions. In one our discussions I shared some Scriptural passages that seemed to contradict what the Pastor had taught the previous Sunday and asked if anyone had any clarification or insight on those readings?

One of the responses I got was that as for that ministry, this was what they believed, and if I had a problem with what the Pastor had said, I could always leave the Church.

We eventually left, but the attitude of my sub-group members demonstrated warning signs of bewitchment.

When you find that you stand by what the Pastor always says, even when it is in blatant contradiction of Scripture, then it is a sign that Scripture no longer holds sway over your life, the Pastor does.

Does the Pastor openly show remorse for his shortcomings if he falls to temptation? Does he acknowledge his need of grace and prayers to the congregation, or does he act like a superman? Does he hold Scripture as the overall authority over his life and ministry?

What Can We Do to Help?

Dear Christian. do you recognise any of these signs in your local assembly? If the answer is yes, what can you do to help? I will like to hear your views.

In our next article, we will discuss some practical ways we can contribute to the health of our local church assemblies.

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Warning Signs of Bewitchment

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 21:18:40 +0000

Churches can get derailed. Congregations that start off as vibrant, Spirit-filled, and Word-centred can easily become fossilised, man-centered and worldly. The Galatian Church is a perfect example of this. In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul wondered how they had so quickly deserted from a gospel of grace to one of works:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

(Gal 1:6)

We can glean from Paul’s astonishment that he least expected the congregation at Galatia to deviate from the right path. In chapter three, he wonders,

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal. 3:1-3).

Paul so laboured to preach the gospel to these Christians in such a vivid manner that he believed it was akin to they being eyewitnesses to the crucifixion of the Saviour. Through his preaching of the gospel and work of the Holy Spirit, the Galatian church was born. Shortly after his departure (Gal. 1:6), these folks had come under the spell of false teachers. Throughout the epistle, Paul provides strong reasons why the assembly at Galatia should return to the true gospel. He counters the falsehood that was being peddled by those who were troubling them and distorting the gospel.

There are many parallels of the Galatian situation today. The good news is, we have the benefit of hindsight from the Scriptures to detect falsehood before it gets out of hand. The truth is, bewitchment and deception don’t happen in an instant. They usually start in insipid ways that may be too subtle to detect. Nonetheless, they cast a shadow or warning lights before them. This article points to three warning signs of bewitchment that every Christian should look out for.

Dear Christian, check it if:

The Gospel Is Not Preached.

The Bible is clear that the problem of man is sin. This is the diagnosis, and the cure is salvation; not motivation, nor renovation or anything else for that matter.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

(Romans 3:23-25a)

The New Testament is careful to stress that the person of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection is absolutely; that is, the gospel, is essential to salvation. There’s no salvation without Jesus, his literal death and his literal, bodily resurrection. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we are to be most pitied of all people (1Cor 15:14). The finished work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection deserves unparalleled emphasis from every Christian pulpit. Remove that, says Paul, and your preaching is vain, and your faith is equally futile.

The amber lights should begin to flash whenever we notice that the cross is emphasised less and less from the pulpit, and in its place, messages that emphasise how good we are and how deserving we are of God’s (material) blessing are a constant feature.

The Pastor Claims An Exclusive New Revelation from God Apart from Scripture.

God has graciously revealed all we are to know from Him in Scripture. The Scriptural revelation is complete and intended for all God’s people. What we need is to be taught to interpret it accurately, the Grace to understand, and to submit to it. Whenever someone says “God revealed this to me” what people usually hear is, “you can’t challenge this, he got it from God Himself!” So, you will find that for fear of being labeled as going against God, many people will not question anything their pastor claims to have been revealed to them by God.

Scripture alone is inspired, infallible and represents the totality of God’s revelation. Everything else must be measured against this. It is the one objective standard for living here on earth. Everything must be subjected to its searching glance. And if anything goes contrary to its most Holy teachings, we ought to throw it out. No matter how wonderful our spiritual experiences may be, we must not elevate them above the Scripture. We submit to the Scriptural revelation and that alone; they are sufficient. They alone cannot be broken (John 10:35). To add to it is to take from it, and we’ll answer to God on the last day.

Paul told Timothy, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2Tim. 1:14) By which he meant, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2Tim. 2:2).

Every faithful church merely repeats the same old truths which were passed down from the Lord to the Apostles, and from the Apostles onward to us via the Bible.

The Pastor Regularly Shares His Opinion Rather Than Expounding Scripture.

If you can’t see that the points the Pastor makes actually come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God’s word.

The central theme of God’s Word is His Son, from Genesis to Revelation. You cannot preach the Bible and ignore Him. Every preacher who is worth his salt needs to center his exposition of Scriptures on Christ. Because if you claim to have a ‘revelation’ from the Bible, but you don’t have Christ at the center of your messages, then you have lighted upon another thing, not the revelation of God, and you may well write your own Bible.

The apostolic pattern is to share less and less of our own opinions and divert all attention to the gospel. Paul said, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (2Corinthians 2:2). Preachers need to preach Him who called them, lest they disqualify themselves—because “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” (1Cor. 4:2).

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The Mouths of False Teachers Must Be Stopped

Enoch Anti — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 05:09:44 +0000

For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake (Titus 1:10-11).

AD. 62-64: the Church in Crete is threathened by false teachers, “teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre’s sake”. Paul writes to Titus instructing these false teachers must be silenced. But how will they be silenced? By sound doctrine. Contrasting the false teachers of the time, Paul tasks Titus to appoint elders Pastors who will teach sound doctrine: “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”

(1:9).Clearly, the duty of a Pastor most importantly among many other duties is to teach the word and to teach it soundly. Not only in Titus, but in other places in Scripture, the need for a Pastor to teach and teach soundly is expressed. Further, Paul instructs Titus himself to “speak…the things which becomes sound doctrine”(2:1). We see clearly the importance of teaching sound doctrine if anyone identifies as a Pastor.

First, in Acts 20:28, elders are encouraged in the “pastoral” duties of overseeing and shepherding. Second, in 1 Peter 5:1–2, elders are exhorted to “shepherd” the flock of God that is in their charge, which is the role of a pastor. Third, in Ephesians 4:11, the one time that the word pastor occurs in the NT, pastors are treated as one group with teachers. This suggests that the chief role of the pastor is to feed the flock through teaching, which is a primary role of elders (Titus 1:9). Hence, the NT seems to indicate that “pastor” is another name for “elder.” An elder is a pastor, and a pastor is an elder.¹

One may ask, what then is sound doctrine? To answer that, we may first have to define what doctrine is:

The term doctrine refers to that which is taught. The Greek word in the New Testament is didaskalia, and it is variously translated as teaching, instruction, or doctrine. Christians use it to describe the basic theology which is understood to be the teaching of the Bible. In this sense it represents the content of the Christian faith.²

From this, we can simply say doctrine is what Christians believe as taught by Scriptures. Doctrine regulates Christian living. In Titus 2:2-10, Paul lays down some guidelines on Christian conduct. He spoke about how older men and women must conduct themselves. Then he spoke to young men and women. Further, the Christian is justified by faith alone in the finished work on Calvary.

Doctrine can be sound or unsound. Sound doctrine is any doctrine or teaching consistent with biblical teachings. Unsound doctrine will be the exact opposite of sound doctrine, that is, any doctrine or teaching inconsistent with Scripture.

A.D 2019: today’s Church in the modern world and in Ghana in particular is no different from the Church in Crete Paul wrote about. We have become inundated with unsound doctrine coming from many angles. There are all kinds of blasphemy parading around as gospel preaching and the true gospel—the good news of the death and resurrection of Christ for the salvation of sinners is no more preached. From the prosperity gospel, to health and wealth and various kinds of so called prophecies, many souls are been led astray.

When Paul charged that the mouth of these false teachers be stopped or silenced, he instructed the teaching of sound doctrine. And consistently in the epistle, we see Paul stressing the importance of sound doctrine (vv.9;13, 2:1). This tells us how important sound doctrine is to the life of the church and believer.

The teaching of sound doctrine matters because we are called upon to grow in our knowledge of Christ and not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. It is crucial we pay attention to doctrine because doctrine points us to whether our beliefs are true or not.

Notes:

1. Matt Permann, “What Is The Role of An Elder”, accessed 10th January 2019, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-role-of-an-elder.

2. https://www.theopedia.com/doctrine

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How Not To Preach The Gospel

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 23:27:55 +0000

Recently, I read an online article on a Facebook contact’s wall with a captivating title, “How to Preach the Gospel: The ‘Blessing’ Outreach.” I was exhilarated as I opened to read. But was disappointed. In the article, the author sought to provide some tips for effective evangelism. In summary, the article suggested that for effective evangelism (evidenced by large numbers of people trooping to our churches),

We must not tell sinners they are destined for hell because of their sins, as they are already in hell (probably on the assumption that they are poor or sick) and don’t need a reminder.
We must entice our audience with promises of material blessings and business and career ‘breakthroughs’—as this is what Jesus came to offer the world.

This approach to evangelism and Christian teaching at large is fast gaining popularity in many mainstream denominations, particularly in our parts of the globe. However, it is a false “gospel”. And I believe it is a kick in the face of God. Here’s why.

It Spurns Biblical Orthodoxy

The very first preacher we encounter in the New Testament is John the Baptist. This is what he preached:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2).

Shortly after this, we read of our Lord’s own evangelistic ministry. Matthew tells us he preached the exact same thing as John—repentance from sin (5:17). What about the Apostles? The first message Peter preached on the day of Pentecost similarly called people to repent and be baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of [their] sins, so that they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37).

Throughout the New Testament, we see that the apostles and other evangelists remained faithful to this message. Paul went so far as to say that “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:18). It is only today that we purport to know better than our Lord, the Apostles and the Holy Spirit. The old gospel message is not effective enough by our standards, hence we must “spice it up”. But alas, to sugar-coat the truth is in fact, to present a lie.

It Withholds the Truth in Order to Gain Access

There are those who hold that an undiluted gospel will drive people away from God instead of drawing them. The solution, to them, is therefore to hold off telling people about sin and hell till they are safely in the realm of the church. What such false teachers fail to understand is that the Gospel is good news because first there is bad news. Without the bad news, the good news is of no use. The Bible teaches that we have all sinned and fallen from the glory of God. The wages (consequence) of sin is death—eternal separation from God. Because of our sins, we are all by nature rightly deserving of God’s wrath and eternal punishment in hell. This is the bad news. Years ago, Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon which he titled, “Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God”. Jonathan aptly sums up the truth about all of us before coming to Christ—we are creatures of wrath (Eph. 2:1-3), deserving of eternal punishment in hell. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— “(Ephesians 2:4-5).

The Bible always tells us the bad news about ourselves, before the good news of God’s grace in salvation through Christ. Any so-called gospel message that presents only the love of God without adequate emphasis on the wrath of God falls short of the true Gospel message as we find in the Bible.

It Presents a Message Which is Not Universal

If the dominant call of the gospel is for people to come to Christ in order to experience material prosperity, what will we tell those who are already well to do materially? This approach to evangelism is opportunistic–targeted at the poor and vulnerable. It is discriminatory—nothing like the free offer of grace that the gospel in Christ offers to all regardless of age, gender or social status. “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:22b-24). There are many examples of wealthy people who don’t care a hoot about God. Truth is, you don’t need God to be rich materially.

Further, preachers of this false “gospel” and their followers greatly misunderstands why Christ came. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10); and “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 28:20). This is why He came—to reconcile us to God. The message of the gospel is that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself…” (2Cor. 5:17).

It is Worldly Instead of Heavenly

Ernst Neubach’s song, “In Heaven There is No Beer” was very popular on the air-waves growing up. In it, he describes the existential pleasures of drinking beer, by bemoaning the fact that when he gets to heaven, his friends will be drinking all the beer—as there’ll be none in heaven! Sadly, the contemporary preacher who believes that a life of poverty is equivalent to an eternity spent away from God’s presence and therefore he needs to have the best of the world has to offer is only singing to the tune of Ernst. On the contrary, Scripture affirms that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that awaits us in heaven (Rom. 8:18). The flip side is that the temporary hardships of this world can never be compared to an eternity of gloom that awaits all who reject God’s offer of salvation in Christ Jesus. What is more, the Bible does not promise that once we come to Christ, we will live happily ever after. On the contrary, to the believer, suffering is a sharp reminder that we live in a fallen world (Rom. 8:23, John 16:33, Acts 14:21-22). It is in the new heaven and the new earth that God has promised there will be no more sin, and all our tears and sorrow will be a thing of the past (2Pet. 3:13).

A “gospel” of “blessings” may bring in throngs to warm our church pews, but it may not guarantee true disciples who have turned to the Lord because they have truly repented of their sins. Calvin’s words are fit for the moment.

“The excellence of the Church does not consist in multitude, but in purity.”

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The Gospel: God’s Message To Humankind.

Enoch Anti — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 17:58:22 +0000

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus , called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1)

Paul introduces himself as a servant of Christ. He goes on further to say why he is a servant of Christ; he was set apart to proclaim the gospel of God. And as a servant, Christ did not call him to proclaim his own ideas and philosophies; as many preachers do today in the name of preaching. The Christian message takes its source from God. It is God’s message to human kind. The word gospel simply means good news. Hence the Christian message — the gospel of God is the good news of God.

Now good news exists because there is bad news. The bad news is that human beings are sinners separated from God by sin and damned for condemnation (Ps. 51:5, Jer. 17:9, Jn 3:18-19, Rom. 3:23, 6:23; Eph. 2:1).

However, God in his mercy has made a way of escape for the sinner and this way is faith in Christ Jesus (Jn.1:12, 3:16, Rom.3:24; 28, 5:1). Christ is the ‘content‘ of God’s message. The gospel of God, Paul says was “…promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh“(v.2–3). Paul here tells us plainly that God’s message is about Christ. And where we find this message is in Scripture. Christ is, as I have already mentioned, the ‘content’ of God’s message. Christ is our kerygma—the proclamation of the Christian message.

One may further ask, “What about Christ?” Paul answers that Christ “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (v.4). The Christian message is centred on the death and ressurection of Christ. That’s the gospel: “…Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures…he was buried…he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1Cor. 15:3-4).

The gospel—Christ’s death and resurrection is the only hope by which sinners will be saved. Sinners can only be reconciled to God as they believe in the gospel and repent from their sins. Paul says in 1 Cor. 1:17 that Christ did not send him to preach the gospel “with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power”. There is power in the preaching of the cross —death and resurrection — of Christ for the salvation of sinners (1Cor 1:18).

The gospel—the message of the death and resurrection of Christ for the salvation of sinners is more relevant to our human condition than the so called relevant messages —motivational and prosperity— we hear often. Any message not centred on Christ and his finished work on Calvary is no gospel. The gospel is not God has a purpose for you. The gospel is not God cares about you. The gospel is not God will heal you. The gospel is Christ died for sinners and rose again that through faith in him sinners will have eternal life.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

—Isaacs Watts

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Faithful Preaching: Christ and Him Crucified

Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 20:57:39 +0000

1 Thessalonians 1:5-1 0

If the preaching of the Gospel is to have any effect in the lives of its hearers, it needs to come in power, in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. In our opening verses, the apostle lets us in on the reason the call of the Gospel is effectual in those who believe it. To these people, the Gospel comes in full conviction, as a result of the mighty work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. It does not rest on human wisdom or eloquence.

Paul wrote elsewhere in a parallel verse saying, “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” and then he explained why: “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). Faithful Gospel preaching is Christ-centred and Christ-exulting. Paul writing few verses earlier in 1Cor 2 had this to say: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,” (1 Corinthians 2:2-3).

Here we find one unique characteristic of Gospel preaching as taught in the New Testament; it does not draw attention to the preacher, but to Christ, and His resurrection. The manner of life of the apostles among those whom the Lord sent was that which sought to magnify Christ, and make less of themselves. They were “in weakness and in fear and much trembling,” — clearly desiring that nothing in them will get in the way of their making Christ exulted above all. Paul was therefore bold to remind the Corinthian Christians of the kind of life they lived whilst amongst them — one that sought to make solely Christ and His death on the cross known to all.

Nothing except Christ and Him crucified

The message of the cross is the heart of all that God has done for the salvation of men; and the one thing that must be preached at all times. If our messages don’t emphasize this, it falls short of Gospel preaching.

What does it mean for the apostle to preach Christ and Him crucified?

These two things are absolutely crucial – The person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Work. To make Jesus Christ known is to preach His person – His incarnation, life, death and resurrection – in order to reconcile fallen man back to God. God came in the flesh in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The son of man (Christ); the second person in the Holy Trinity came to seek and to save that which was lost. He only could fulfil the righteous demands of God’s holy law by his life of perfect obedience and unlock for us the gates of heaven.

It is tragic that many preachers can teach on Salvation without mentioning the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ! But it takes only the God-man to do this. It is His atoning work, His death on the cross and His resurrection that paid the price for our Salvation. This is why Paul sought to make Christ’s work and His death known, with fear and trembling. This was the first thing he and the other apostles preached:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1Corinthians 15:1-4).

His words in the passage above are very instructive: he delivered to them as of first importance, the Gospel! He did not put anything before it. Isn’t it a travesty that we ever so often do exactly opposite that – place other things before the Gospel? Christ died for our sins! He was buried and raised on the third day so that we might be forgiven! If you have not come to terms with and believed this, then you are lost and not saved.

You cannot believe in the gospel unless you first believe in the doctrine of the wrath of God against sin! His death on the cross was a substitution for our sins. He died for you and me! Why did he die for us? Because of what is true about you and me! The Biblical truth is that we are all fallen creatures! This is universally true of everybody, and we are under the wrath of God! (Romans 1:18).
But how can I know that Christ’s death was sufficient to atone for my sins and the wrath of God? Because God raised Him from the dead! The Bible is careful to say that God raised Him (Jesus) from the dead – to prove that His death was sufficient once and forever to satisfy God’s wrath and the requirement of the law! Romans 4:24-25 is re-assuring in this regard: “…It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

The Results of Faithful Preaching

Not founded on human efforts, the result of faithful preaching is equally divine and spiritual. Faithful Gospel preaching produces converts who are truly Christ-like.
When the apostles preached faithfully, the results were disciples who imitated The Lord Jesus Christ; full of joy in the Holy Ghost, even in much persecution. Their preaching produced saints who turned from idols to serve the living God, and lived their lives in hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The testimony of exemplary Christian living of the Thessalonian Christians, as recorded in our opening passage, was reported as far as to Macedonia and Archaia.

How does this compare to what pertains in our day? Do we emphasize the cross in our messages? Is Christ and His work truly at the centre of our sermons? Do we seek to present the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit or do we rely on our eloquence and charisma to ‘move’ our hearers? Do we seek God’s face in tears and humility for the salvation of souls? Could the state of Christianity as we have it today be a reflection of the dearth of faithful Gospel preaching?

My prayer is that God will grant us faithful teachers who will seek nothing except to know Christ and to make Him known. And may God grant that our generation will be filled with faithful Christians whose lives will model the Gospel wherever they find themselves — that others seeing our good works will come to the saving knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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