Why Should I Share the Gospel?
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· 952 viewsAn oveview of why every single Christian should be involved in sharing the Gospel with others.
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Introduction
Introduction
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Romans
This verse is frequently associated with the need to support and send gospel preachers. While that certainly applies, sometimes we focus too much, if not solely, on sending men to preach. But who is sent to the workplace? Who is sent to the classroom? Who is sent to our family and neighbors? Are preachers, elders, teachers, and church leaders the only ones responsible for sharing the gospel and bringing others to Christ? Or does the responsibility of winning souls fall on each and every one of us. I believe the New Testament call is clear - every Christian has a responsibility to do what they can to share the gospel. Do you believe that? Do you believe that sharing the gospel is something that you personally and individually should be striving to do? If not, I hope this study will change your mind.
This sermon is simply going to focus on the question, “Why should I share the gospel?” While we may rightly ask, “How can I share the gospel,” I believe that first every member must be convicted of their responsibility to help share the gospel. We can learn more about how, and we should, but until we truly believe that we must be sharing the Gospel, then learning more about how is fairly irrelevant. If, however, we are convicted and zealous about sharing the gospel, then we will strive to learn how. Better still, we will simply do what we can, and as we do we will grow in our ability to share the gospel with others.
Why Should I Share the Gospel?
Why Should I Share the Gospel?
God Desires All Men To Be Saved
God Desires All Men To Be Saved
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
If God wants all men to be saved, we should want all men to be saved!
God has offered a means to salvation - His Son. The good news that salvation is available, however, has been entrusted to those who have obeyed the gospel - Us!
12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
To Be Like Jesus
To Be Like Jesus
Jesus loves the souls of men - that’s why He came in the first place!
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
While Jesus preached publicly to large crowds, that was not the only method of His outreach. He cared as much for the one individual as He did for the crowd of thousands.
Jesus spent time with and talked with individuals from all walks of life in order to reach them with the Gospel.
Nicodemus (A Pharisee)
Zaccheus (A Tax Collector)
Mary and Martha (Women)
The Woman at the Well (A Samaritan woman!)
The Disciples (All were called individually)
Jesus calls His disciples to “Follow Me.” If we are to follow Jesus, and Jesus loved individuals and sought their salvation, we should love individuals and seek their salvation!
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
To Be Like the Early Church
To Be Like the Early Church
While we claim to have “restored the New Testament Church” -
Our goal is to restore and practice New Testament Christianity. While we have done that in matters of doctrine and worship, is there more to restore?
Have we truly restored the New Testament church if we have not restored a desire and conviction to share the gospel?
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.
The church is made up of individuals: individuals who have obeyed the Gospel of Jesus. If individually we do not desire or attempt to share the gospel, are we truly the Lord’s Church?
The church is made up of individuals: individuals who have obeyed the Gospel of Jesus. If individually we do not desire or attempt to share the gospel, are we truly the Lord’s Church?
The church is made up of individuals: individuals who have obeyed the Gospel of Jesus. If individually we do not desire or attempt to share the gospel, are we truly the Lord’s Church?
The Great Commission is for Every Christian
The Great Commission is for Every Christian
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
After baptizing new disciples, the apostles were to teach the new converts to “observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus command to go and make disciples is part of all he had commanded them! Thus, new disciples are to learn how to share the gospel and make new disciples. The Great Commission is for every Christian!
Jesus’ invitation is “Come and Learn” but His charge to those who accept that invitation is then to “Go and teach.”
Sending by proxy does not fulfill our personal responsibility to “Go”
While we should send preachers () we should also be “going” in our own sphere and world. We may never be sent across the world, but we can all go across the street, across the office, and across the classroom to share the Gospel with those we know.
For Our Soul’s Benefit
For Our Soul’s Benefit
Christians are to be fruitful servants of the Lord. When we refuse to labor, and thus become fruitless, we endanger our own souls.
John 15:1-
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
John
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
There are various ways of bearing fruit for the Master, but one of the prime ways we can bear fruit is by bring others to Christ!
2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
We have been entrusted with the Gospel and instructed to bear fruit. We may have differing levels of ability and success, but we will be judged not on productivity, but effort and obedience.
8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
In the Parable of the Talents, the 1-Talent man was not condemned because of immorality, active sin, or because he hadn’t earned enough. He was condemned because he did nothing!
Inactivity leads to backsliding, and backsliding leads to condemnation. Instead of being inactive, be busy sharing the gospel!
It is the Greatest Thing We Can Do For Someone Else
It is the Greatest Thing We Can Do For Someone Else
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5:19
A selfish life will never be a successful or worthwhile life.
“No person was ever honored for what he received, but what he gave” - Calvin Coolidge
What do we have to give? The greatest gift that can be given!
If we teach language, mathematics, science, and all form of learning, yet don’t teach others about Jesus and how find redemption, what have we really taught?
If we feed the hungry, but don’t bring them the bread of life, have we truly provided for them?
If we shelter the homeless, but don’t show to the shelter of the rock that is Christ, have we really helped them?
If we clothe the naked, but don’t help them see how to be clothed in Christ and righteousness, what have we offered them?
If we save lives, but lose souls, what lasting worth is there to our work?
People have souls. They’ve been created int he image of God. They will live forever somewhere. Do we care where? Do we care for and love others?
“I’ve always said I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. If you believe there’s a heaven and hell and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not worth telling them because it would make it socially awkward…how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them about it? If I believed beyond the shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it, there’s a certain point that I tackle you, and this is more important than that.” - Penn Jillette - A magician, entertainer, and ATHEIST
Are we sacrificing the souls of others out of fear of social awkwardness? Whatever their response will be, it’s worth it to warn them of eternity and to give them an opportunity to obey the gospel!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
When Jesus called his disciples, he called them to become “fishers of men.” Over the next three years, Jesus trained His disciple to become just that. After Jesus’ ascension, the apostles took up the Lord’s commission, and they refused to stop sharing the good news of the gospel. Even when they were arrested, beaten, and threatened for preaching, this is what they had to say:
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
The apostles could not be silenced. It was impossible. Too often, no one has to tell us to be silent. Often, we choose silence as our preferred course. But what if we were like the apostle? What if we took the Lord’s commission so seriously, and loved the Lord so zealously, that we could not help but speak to others of what we have learned of the Gospel?
Will you become a fisher of men? Will you not only accept the Lord’s invitation to come and learn, but also accept and fulfill His charge to “go and teach?” Will you put your talents and time to work for the Master? Will you do what you can do to share the gospel and bear fruit for the father? Will you share the greatest gift ever offered - the gift of salvation - with those you know?
As they preached the gospel and made disciples, they taught others how to become fishers of men.
Throughout the ages, the perpetuity of the local church, and the overall spread of the Gospel, depends on each Christian’s willingness to become a fisher of men.
Will you become a fisher of men? Will you not only accept the Lord’s invitation to come and learn, but also accept and fulfill His charge to “go and teach?” Will you put your talents and time to work for the Master? Will you do what you can do to share the gospel and bear fruit for the father? Will you share the greatest gift ever offered - the gift of salvation - with those you know?