Pressing Forward in the Gospel:
Put the Message out There
Phil Schaefer
August 10, 2008
Key Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Introduction:
In the last few weeks we have been teaching on Pressing Forward in the Gospel. Our goal has been to:
- Make us more gospel-centered
- Make us more gospel-aware
- Remind us that Christianity is not just a lifestyle, a subculture, a set of standards, or that you go to church
The message is not that Christianity is the Bible. It is not enough to say that Christianity is Jesus, or Christianity is grace.
The gospel is:
- A message of Jesus and about Jesus
- A message about the grace of God
- God’s message to man about who God is, what He has done, why He has done it, and what we get as a result of it
Growing up, I disliked Christianity for so many reasons. I disliked Jesus and I disliked the rules, because I did not know the message of Christianity.
To get the gospel correct, you have to get the message correct.
2 Tim. 1:1-5 “ I charge you now in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
- Verse 1- Paul tells Timothy “ I charge You.” He is saying, stay true to that calling that God has called you to.
Illustration: When I perform a wedding, at a point in the ceremony I will tell the bride and groom, “I charge you to keep the vows you have made today.” It underscores the seriousness of keeping the vows they have made in front of God and their families and friends.
Here, Paul says “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, in the presence of the one who will judge the living and the dead, and in the knowledge of His appearing (second coming) and of His kingdom.”
He emphasizes to Timothy that Jesus is the ruler of all things, the one who will judge all, the one who has promised to come again. He is the Lord of lords, and the King of kings, whom all will bow before. Buddha, Aristotle, Mohammed- all will acknowledge Him. No one else has promised to come again. No one else can save us.
Christ has come.
Christ has risen.
Christ will come again.
2. Verse 2 Paul says “Preach the word.”- Put the message out there.
- Specifically it means proclaim the gospel, to speak or share.
- It is not just ‘preach the Bible’.
- It does not just mean ‘preach Genesis or the Psalms’.
- It is not preach a verse, or preach a sermon or get preachy.
- It means proclaim the message!
Eugene Peterson nails it in his introduction to the Message Bible. He says, “ The arrival of Jesus signals the beginning of a new era. God makes it unmistakably clear that He is on our side. He has done everything possible to save us. God has done it all through the coming of Jesus; in His life, His death and His resurrection. It’s hard to believe that God would go through all of that abuse and the rejection so that we might be reconciled to Him. When you really understand this message it seems too good to be true!
It is God calling all the shots. He has the first word on everything and the last word on everything- our life, our existence, our future. When we become a Christian, everything has to be re-centered, re-imagined and re-thought.
The New Testament seems almost put together in a random way. There are 5 stories, 21 letters, and 1 poem. Only in retrospect do we see that the Holy Spirit was arranging and orchestrating it all into order. The language is not ordinary language. It is not a legal document, not a treatise. It is not a message that tells us to aspire after the best, the great and the lofty. It is a message that reveals God’s presence and His action in the midst of the dirty and ordinary stuff of our lives.
Illustration: a video of a news story of an elderly woman who was buying groceries at Wal-mart. She got in her car, and a man jumped in beside her with a gun, demanding that she give him her money. She said, “No, I won’t” Then proceeded to tell him that if he killed her, she would go directly to heaven and he would go to hell! She talked to him about God and told him that Jesus was with her at all times, was in the car with them right now. He began to cry and put the gun down. They talked for ten minutes, and she then voluntarily gave him all her money ($10) and told him not to spend it on whiskey. She asked him where he was going next. He said was going home to pray and gave her a goodbye kiss on the cheek.
John Wimber said, “Tell your story and then tell His story.” Tell the message.
3. Paul tells Timothy,” Be ready in season and out of season.” KJV- Be instant in season and out.
Illustration: My first sermon in Bible College. I kept saying, “be constant” but it is “be instant” Be ready, be at hand, whether it is convenient or inconvenient, welcome or not welcome. There are times when God calls us to say something to someone about Him when it is not convenient, We get nervous, want to chicken out, not do it. It is easy to be intimidated. We have to wrestle with the Holy Spirit about speaking. Examples:
- I was passing some people at a picnic table in the park, I thought I should stop and talk to them but I didn’t. I was doing street witnessing and the guy got angry. I thought, I’m not good at this. We may blow the chance but there are other times when we obey and speak up.
- I was on the plane to Boston for the marathon, seated next to a young woman who was an atheistic Jew. I had a chance to share about being a Christian pastor and what it means. She had never heard the term pastor, no idea about God.
- A Kuwaiti Muslim who sat at my table at a coffee shop and asked me to tell him about Christianity and the Bible. I basically told him how he could know God in a personal way.
- We need to realize that God wants to speak through us! He opens the doors, and we go through them. It’s about being at the right place at the right time.
- The most powerful times for me were times when I wasn’t doing well in my faith, when I was personally “out of season, when I have been confused, in doubt, or feeling guilty etc. And then someone comes along and asks me a question about God, or about Jesus. I have a choice to hold back or to press forward with the gospel. Then, I tell myself, “This is not a message about me. This is a message about Jesus, who He is, what He has done for me, and in me, and what He can do in your life!”
And do you know what happens? In that moment, out of my mouth comes the confession of the gospel. As I speak the message, my faith goes up, my confusion goes away, my conviction grows stronger. I’m telling myself “ I really do believe what I’m saying! I really know it is true.” The work of conviction takes over.
In the speaking, God steps in, in a powerful way. At that moment, be ready.
It’s about:
- His love for everyone
- His forgiveness
- His compassion in our weakness
- His hope
Conclusion: Rick Warren- Sharing You Life Message
“Your life message is made up of these four things”:
- Your story with Christ -Your faith, your doubts, your convictions, your experiences
- Lessons you learned through failure and difficulty - through lack of money, through pain, sorrow, or depression. What he has taught you through difficulties in your marriage, what he has taught you in prison, from being passed over for promotion, from being dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend. What He has taught you through having to wait, through disappointment, through your small group, through your church and through friends .
3. What makes you passionate- What has God made you passionate about? What is it that He draws you to give your life to? Keep the message of the gospel central to your life.
4. The message of salvation:
- Everybody matters to God.
- God loves all people.
- God has chosen to make us the messengers of His love to all people.
Every chance to do it will strengthen your faith. Speak the word in season and out. Fulfill the call of God in your life. Let’s get the gospel in us and share it with others.
Discussion questions:
Why do you think Paul found it necessary to mention ‘the presence of God and Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and his appearing, and His Kingdom’ in his charge to Timothy? Why didn’t he just say,” I charge you”?
What could be some reasons for someone to regularly go to church but not understand the true message of the gospel? At what point in your faith did you truly understand the message?
Why might the gospel seem too good to be true at first hearing it?
Has God ever prompted you to proclaim the truth of the gospel in an inconvenient or unusual situation? Did you hold back or press forward? What was the result?
Have you ever had God open the door to witness to someone when you were ‘out of season’ or did not feel spiritually ready? What happened to your own faith at that moment?
In what ways do you feel that you are fulfilling the call of God to share the gospel?
Write out your own life-witness, including the four points in Rick Warren’s book, and share it with your small group. Keep it with you for any future opportunities to share the gospel.
