For the Gospel’s Sake

The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is the greatest single act for the sake of others ever performed on this earth.

Jesus left his glory to be born as a man so he could save us from our sins and death.

We have eternal life, we have a new life, we have forgiveness, we have hope, and we have a future in heaven for sure.

We have the greatest gift known to man.  The gift of Jesus Christ.  With this we also have the fruit of the Spirit.  And we enjoy true happiness.  We have access to the throne of grace in prayer and to the words of God through reading.

Those without Christ have none of this.  And on top of that, when they die they will spend eternity in hell.  The sad thing is that many of them don’t even realize this because they haven’t had a timely and thorough gospel witness.

That’s where we come in.  We have received untold riches through the gospel.  We can’t keep something this good all to ourselves.  There’s just no way that we can be that selfish and worldly.

There are three places in your Bible where the Lord gives you something to do for the gospel’s sake.  He expects you to:

Deny yourself – Mk 8:34-35.  Don’t let your schedule, your career, your ambition, your reputation, or your self-will keep you from telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Deny yourself for the gospel’s sake.

Jesus denied himself.  He prayed, “Not my will but thine be done”.

Separate yourself – Mk 10:28-30.  Jesus left his glory above.  He separated from his heavenly abode, from the heavenly presence of his Father, and came to this earth to save us.

Your family or your friends or your beautiful home can hold you back from giving others the gospel.  Your possessions can hold you back.  Jesus separated from all the wonders and comforts of heaven to come to this wretched world to bring us the gospel.

Adapt yourself – 1 Cor 9:19-23.  Jesus adapted.  He’s God manifest in the flesh but he ate with sinners, publicans, and harlots.  He could hold his own with kings, governors, chief priests, elders, Pharisees, and even widows and children.  He adapted.

We must adapt so that we can have an audience with anyone who will willingly listen to the gospel.  The gospel is for everybody.  Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” 1 Tim 2:6.

You may think you are only able to preach the gospel to children because you’re in the children’s ministry, or people who are your peers.  But when you adapt yourself, you can give the gospel to anyone and everyone.

A maid convinced the captain of the Syrian host to go see Elisha to be healed of his leprosy.  I’ve given the gospel to wealthy ranchers, bank presidents, doctors who own their own medical practices, recently to the chief of staff of a major Houston hospital, lawyers, and to children, drug addicts, people in living in subsidized housing, and people in and from foreign countries all over the world.  You can, too, if you will adapt.

Conclusion: For the gospel’s sake, deny yourself, separate yourself, and adapt yourself.  If you’ve decided to do these, then make a commitment that you will continue to do so for the gospel’s sake and get on with telling others about Jesus.