I've been asked to speak on Friday night, I was going to talk on Pride and humility, but after praying and reading 1 Corinthians, I re-read ch13, the love chapter, and applied it to the Gospel message. I know it's a bit skimpy, I only really put notes in to help me while I preach, but I hope you see where I'm going with this.
Could I ask for comments and critisisms as I don't want to preach anything that is obviously taken out of context. but if it's all bad, I'll have to go back to the pride sermon which I haven't written.
Here are my notes:
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, that which we were commanded to preach:
Mk 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
...is an expression of love, from God to the world, and also to us as He has entrusted this most precious and awesome task to mere humans
[read 1 Cor 13]
Let’s look at the above, famous passage, from the perspective of the Gospel message
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal.
It doesn't matter how good our language, vocabulary or articulation is, if we speak anything without love we are just making noise.
When we preach we will be a clanging gong if what we say is not from a heart of love and compassion for the lost.
we are not here to gloat about our salvation but to plead with others to come into the ark where it's safe
2 And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand
all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith,
so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing.
We may understand the bible and that does help, we may have faith in God to raise the dead, we may be able to know what God has in store for us in the future but if we do not preach or teach the whole Gospel, in love, then we are redundant because we are not preaching Christ, just about Him
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it
profiteth me nothing.
I may give 90% of my earnings to the poor, I may sit and eat with the homeless and offer them a place to stay, I may go out to some distant tribe and be martyred for my faith but if I do it without love I am not going to reach into the hearts of the lost and show them Jesus
4 Charity suffereth long,
As those commanded to preach the Gospel we must not look at our difficulties but work in spite of them
[and] is kind;
we must be able to, at the drop of a hat, give to those who are in need without holding back because of inconvenience
charity envieth not;
We are not to look at others and want their ministry or mission field
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
And when we see results we must recognise that we have allowed God to work through us, the only work we have done is to obey God, go where He sent us, say what He told us to and then step out of His way while He worked a miracle in someone's life.
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly,
We represent Jesus in the shops, in front of the TV, in the voting booth, in the bedroom, as we drive to work...
seeketh not her own,
We are not our own I Cor 7:23 Ye are bought with a price...
is not easily provoked ...be not ye the servants of men.
thinketh no evil; Prov 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity,
We do not boast about our past sin filled life, nor glorify it, we only mention it to show how God has dealt with us graciously and mercifully
but rejoiceth in the truth;
We must press the truth, Jesus is the Truth, what He did for us is the truth, the wrath that is coming is the truth, we rejoice in it and must show others the Truth so they can reject it or come in humility and repentance to believe it
7 Beareth all things,
The Gospel holds everything up, if our Gospel message is lacking our Christianity is faulty
believeth all things,
we are never to look at a person and think 'they are beyond hope', neither are we to spread the seed and think we have wasted our time
hopeth all things, we must preach with a conviction that Christ is speaking through us and life will be the result
endureth all things. The Gospel must be preached to every creature, in school yards, towns, dinner tables, court rooms, prisons, on death row, with a noose around our neck or a sword piercing our body, The Gospel will work in peoples hearts long after we have died preaching it.
8 Charity never faileth: The Gospel is the work of God, not us, He gives us the precious message to preach for Him.
but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail;
Sometime there will be nothing new to say, we must press home what we have already said
whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease;
Some of our gifts may stop but we are to carry on with the Gospel
whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Even when we run out of words, wisdom and answers, are actions and love must portray Christ's life
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
We may not understand nor be able to answer everything that we are asked, but as much as we know about the Gospel we need to proclaim it
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which
is in part shall be done away.
When Christ comes, the Gospel will be no more use
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as
a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put
away childish things.
We must present the Gospel with as much understanding as we have, initially all we know is 'if Christ can save me, He can save you' Our testimony grows year by year.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face
to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also
I am known.
We cannot fully grasp the importance of the Gospel, how every creature must hear it,
MAT 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, [that] speak ye in light:
and what ye hear in the ear, [that] preach ye upon the
housetops.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but
the greatest of these [is] charity.
We have faith in Christ and His Gospel, Hope in Him and His Gospel but the commitment to preach the Gospel, the passion for the Gospel, the dedication of our lives to the spreading of the Gospel, that is the greatest expression of love