The Power of The Gospel
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)
No one will ever be disappointed with the gospel. The sinner who believes in Christ and receives Him, will not be disappointed with the outcome. Jesus said “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). And the one who preaches the gospel will never be disappointed with the result, for “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16).
The Scripture is designed to bring people to faith in Christ (John 20:31; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:15). It is our job to get people into the Scripture and the Scripture into people so it can do its work. And as we give out His word, the God who makes the seeds to grow in ways we cannot see or understand will be at work in the hearts of men. “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good” (Ecclesiastes 11:4-6). We don’t always know what the soil is like in the hearts around us, so we need to be sowing the seed of the gospel everywhere we go.
In the places where churches need to be planted, the work is doubtless going to be difficult. This writer has visited church planters all over the continent, and quite often the words are heard: “This is a hard place”. No one ever said that where they were laboring the work was easy. We live in a society in which lives are in upheaval. People are scarred by sin and living in a tangled web of past history and present hurts.
As church planters, our tendency is going to be to target people we view as likely prospects for the church. We must resist that temptation and follow the example of our Savior who himself set a pattern for how we should do ministry. “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:16-17). The ones who followed Christ were not always the most likely candidates. But He knew something – He knew the power of the gospel! He knew what can happen when the Spirit of God comes into a life.
Yes, church planting is hard everywhere. The enemy is strong. People are enslaved to sin and content to leave it that way. They are following “the course of this world” and “fulfilling the desires of the flesh” (Ephesians 2:2-3). They are in bondage and spiritual darkness. But even though “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ … should shine unto them,” still we “Preach … Christ Jesus the Lord.” And when we do, “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness” still shines in the hearts of men “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).
God is still in the soul saving business, and even the hardest of cases cannot frustrate the power of the gospel. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Let us trust the God of salvation and move out in obedience to His command. Let us keep on wielding the Spirit’s Sword, knowing that it is sufficient for the need. Let us make the gospel message known – it will never disappoint us. Let us never underestimate the power of the gospel !