In Part 1 we established that we should be unashamed of the Gospel first and foremost because it is the power of God. God uses the Gospel to call dead men from the grave. And not only does He call them with this message, He raises them with this message.
So yeah this all sounds nice and good, but when the time comes to share the truth with others it never goes down quite so easy.
The Problem
Have you ever been in conversation with someone and wanted to share the Gospel with them, but couldn’t get yourself to do it? It seems that when we are in the Scriptures or with our church we rejoice and feel motivated to share the Good News with others. But then when we find ourselves face to face with someone who may be resistant or hostile to the Gospel, it all feels a bit different. Conflicting thoughts race through our minds about how we aren’t eloquent enough, or how we don’t know enough, or how there is no way we can convince them. And of course when we think about it later we are disappointed in ourselves. How do we get passed this?
Lack of Confidence
Shame and fear often cripple us. Usually this kind of fear arises when there is a lack of confidence in the resources we possess. This is like a small nation hesitating to go to war with a great nation because they feel their weapons are not as advanced.
The fear is understandable. The Bible is clear that the hearts of men are in bad shape. Hearts are hardened and want nothing to do with Jesus. There are even some that like “Jesus” as they understand him, but want nothing to do with the real Jesus as presented in the Scriptures. There are fortresses built around hearts and strongholds that seek to keep good things out. It is intimidating to think about getting past these fortresses to soften the hearts. What weapons do we have?
Reason for Confidence
One of the passages that often reminds me of the power of the Gospel talks about the weapons we have and the power they pack.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul is once again defending himself and his ministry:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every through captive to obey Christ…”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
If we know anything about Paul, it’s that the only thing he cares about and lives for is the Gospel. He said he was determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). There is no doubt that he seeks to exalt the power of the word of God in this passage. So how should we, as believers, respond to passages like this?
Conclusion
We must respond with unashamed, bold confidence. The next time you stand before someone and feel like the odds are stacked against you remember this verse. People do have strongholds up that seek to hinder the work of God, but God has given us a weapon that has power to DESTROY strongholds. Maybe we feel like we can’t reach people that we can’t relate to or who are intellectually superior to us. That is contrary to the truth in this verse. The most well crafted presentation has absolutely no power to destroy lofty opinions or strongholds. But the simple message of the Gospel has all the power we need.
Brothers and sisters, we are at war and we must fight. There is no mission in the world that is more important than this one. And we can not afford to forfeit because of fear. We must remember that no battle is impossible to win because the weapons we fight with are unmatched. God will break through obstacles and save those whom He seeks to save. His Word NEVER fails. Our role is to plead with men to repent and to plead with God to save them.
“So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11
Comments
A few friends and I were having a bible study on Romans and we were wondering what your thoughts were on predestination.
Remember: "Let the Words of my Mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)
So pray for God to Assist you in His Will as well as praying for those He has given you.
but anyways john 3:16 yallllllll
Nice Blog
God Bless
How should we present the Gospel if its not brung up? Lets say you are working at a big company(A company like Kay Jewelers or Jared)
and your boss talks to you everyday about his problems, but you know that he dont want to hear the word. Should I still speak of Christ? Should I not say anything to keep my job or what? They know that I am a christian but I am just not sure what to say to them . Thanks..
Offering the Gospel watered-down is the WORST feeling ever, especially when in your heart, you really do love Christ!
I want to count it no cost and no loss for people to reject ME because they reject the Gospel. I want to stand and be stoned for WHO I love and believe in!
Maan, you all are in my prayers, May Christ teach us all to stand and be bold in who we are in The Father as He was! That we'll have that Paul conviction and courage!, we'll breathe to rep Christ so hard and so loud and so 1000% anguished for souls, that people query our sanity! Yessss I want to live a life POURED OUT!!!!
Surfing the internet the other day, I found an article about science which was talking about how scientists think they've learned more about matter and antimatter and such. Pretty much, they tried to say they're coming closer to explaining 'why' we exist. (sounded more to me like 'how' rather than 'why'). Anyway, this isn't what struck me. What did strike me was the comments left by the readers. As anyone could guess, the comments were a heated debate over science vs God. This didn't surprise me whatsoever. It was nothing more than what I expected. I noticed something, though, while I was looking through and reading some of these comments. Beside every comment there were two buttons for others to click. One was a thumbs up button if you like what the comment said, the other was a thumbs down button if you didn't like what the comment said. What I noticed was that for many of the comments from people saying that God created everything and God is the answer, there were more thumbs down responses than thumbs up responses. But, why? It seems to me that people aren't opening their eyes and seeing. Now, the last sentence that you just read says: "It seems to me that people aren't opening their eyes and seeing." No, this isn't an incomplete sentence. I know you're probable thinking, "Seeing what?" Well, everything! The world, people, living things, everything! I agree, science can show a great deal of things. But all it shows is the 'how' and not the 'why'. It may tell 'how' man was created, but it cannot explain 'why' the things happened that caused it. The only answer is that there is a God: the God. But people don't see this. The ones who say there isn't cannot prove otherwise, yet want to tell us that say there is that we cannot prove there is one. If only they'd open their eyes and look around the proof is right in front of them everywhere they go. Everything that is here is so detailed, so complex, so pin point and perfectly crafted to work that something, someone had to have created it. How could something so complex be a result of an explosion or be a product of chance. It can't; it's impossible.Where is the science that proves otherwise? Sure, maybe this matter and antimatter that was spoken about in this article had something to do with human life, but who made it? Where did it come from? Why did it react or do something in such a way as to cause something so complex to be produced? It had to have came from somewhere. And then to go farther, whatever these things came from had to have came from something as well, and so on.
Now, back to the fact that there were more thumbs down responses. This tells me that there are more people out there that are willing to stand up for what they think and say that there is no God than there are people that will stand up for Christ. This is a scary thought! We Christians need to unite and work for Christ. It breaks my heart to think that there isn't an outstanding number of Christians that will step up and take a stand. Many of us say, 'Yes, I would stand up for Jesus' or 'I argue with people like the ones in that article and tell them God is real'. Okay, great! But it shouldn't take something like an article striking a nerve for us to say something. I mean, how many people speak about God to others regularly? We need to get out and say something! Many people's idea of standing up for Jesus is saying 'Yes, I believe in Jesus' when someone asks them. I say we need to stand up for him by speaking up and spreading the Word without being asked about it. Tell others. Then, if they don't want to hear it and want to argue and such, that's their choice. That's where free will comes in. At least you can say that you did your part. The Bible tells us in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." In Mark 16:15 it says, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." And again in Mark 13:10-11 it tells us, "And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." We need to get out there and do something about this. Fight against those who say there is no God. There may be someone out there that isn't sure what to believe. You never know, one of these nonbelievers may tell them there isn't a God and they may believe it because no one was there to tell them otherwise. You could be the one to win them over for Christ just by simply telling them about Him. Christians, come on! Stand up for Christ! Don't be the minority under the nonbelievers like in the comments on the article.
-Jared Skinner
'J Skin'
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