WHEN THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED “WITH ALL BOLDNESS”.. OUR ACTS STUDY on Sundays continues to supply information which speaks directly to the importance and impact of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Yesterday we studied the result of Stephen’s preaching, and the reaction it triggered (Acts 7 and 8). Within a matter of months, the circumstances changed – going from a climate where they enjoyed “favor with all the people” (2:47), the church came under such fearsome attack that discples were forced to flee the city and were “scattered abroad” (8:4). The response to the gospel was and is determined by the mindset (heart) of those who hear it. Stephen’s preaching enraged his hearers, and they killed him for it. Following this, Philip’s declaration of that same gospel favorably impressed HIS audience and they “were baptized”. BOTH responses were predictable, and the potential for one or the other was not factored into the duty to preach it. Sometimes we fail to realize that God is fully aware that often His gospel will be rejected by men – He still says: PREACH IT! He says, “preach it to every creature under heaven” – Mk 16:15. The record even shows that He EXPECTED what followed Stephen’s rejection: in Chapter 1, Christ told His apostles they would be witnesses for Him in “Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and beyond…this began to be fulfilled in Acts 8:1-4 – “in Judea and Samaria…” At the tower of Babel, in Genesis 11, God created the circumstances which resulted in the dispersion of humanity. No doubt He anticipated the events of chapter 7 would have the end result of dispersion of the disciples to begin the work of evangelizing the world. God has a plan – and it is not OUR plan to manage or to manipulate…His plan says GO…PREACH….it is not our business to fall short of that for fear of repercussions – ‘God giveth the increase’ (1 Cor 3). Thankfully, the church had not “grown” then into the hodge podge and timidity of thought and agendas regarding preaching the pure gospel and its effect so evident today. Evidently the disciples ALL (or virtually all) had enough faith to do their work, and not try to outguess God. There is a direct connection between the weak and watered down gospel being “preached” and lived by most today, and the indifference with which the church is viewed by the world. THAT is, perhaps, the greatest hindrance to its spread. We know for sure that persecution does not stop it! The advance of the gospel reminds me of my war with fire ants. Every time I attack and kill a hill, two more will pop up just a few feet away. My feelings at such times must be pretty much that of the enemies of the gospel – every effort to suppress it only gave it new energy.(acb)
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 10:50:31 +0000
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