Pondering PROCLAIM 7
The previous post probably ended on a very challenging note, which is probably a good thing to lead us to a review of the final session we had. During this session, in talking about the Power for Proclamation, Ben addressed the Dilemma and the Solution in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He started by talking about how these days, of youth, are the days when you have much opportunity to serve the Lord and enjoy Him, generally with less hindrance than later. It reminded me of Ecclesiastes 12:1. So don’t think you are too young [to understand and preach the gospel to others]. Ben also reiterated the outline of the gospel, as found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Is there something you would die for? Is there someone who would ‘die for you’? And ‘live for you’? If you are a believer, you think of Christ Jesus (now, these are some thoughts I had as I reflected upon this – Jesus died for believers in the sense of being punished on the cross for all their sins, and He lived for believers in the sense of living a perfect life, fulfilling all righteousness in God’s sight, and now those who trust in Him are clothed in His righteousness, not theirs. Jesus also lives to intercede for believers [c.f. Hebrews 7:22-28]). What do you live for? What would you die for? From 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, we see that Christ died, was buried, and He rose again. Some other verses to keep in mind, as this relates to believers, are Romans 4:25 and 2 Corinthians 5:21.
I remember, somewhere in the middle of this, Ben mentioning again that there’s, “probs with the bod” Do you remember that? :) Surely this is not all about us…God is the center. This was a good question from Ben; “Are we in it for God, or is it the other way round?” It would be sad if it were the other way round in your life. Then Ben talked about the Dilemma and the Solution. As shown from John 15:18ff, the truth is that the world naturally hates Christ and the gospel, and thus also hates you as well, as His follower. The dilemma is that you are commanded to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, yet the world is inclined towards hating it…and you [because of it]! There is pressure there, yet we should not be surprised.
Remember that at around this point Ben was trying to explain something and asked, “You guys know what a blog is, don’t you?” And someone said, “We have one!” That was funny :). Anyway, we did go on to finish up and Ben spoke of the solution. He referred to John 16:7ff and Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus Christ gave us Himself and He is with us always (Matthew 28:18-20). More specifically today, as believers we have the Holy Spirit (John 16:7ff). This has been true from the beginning of the church (c.f. Acts 1:8).
As I contemplated these things, I also came across the fact that even in the book we were mainly studying from there is reference to the Holy Spirit being the One who gives the power for proclamation (c.f. 1 Peter 1:12). It is from Him that we are compelled and empowered to speak the truth of the gospel…proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God. Is that not encouraging?
Remember also that there was an encouragement to pray…for ourselves and for those who do not believe.
Here we saw the dilemma and the solution as we proclaim the gospel...the excellencies of Christ Jesus!
Thanks Ben
The previous post probably ended on a very challenging note, which is probably a good thing to lead us to a review of the final session we had. During this session, in talking about the Power for Proclamation, Ben addressed the Dilemma and the Solution in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He started by talking about how these days, of youth, are the days when you have much opportunity to serve the Lord and enjoy Him, generally with less hindrance than later. It reminded me of Ecclesiastes 12:1. So don’t think you are too young [to understand and preach the gospel to others]. Ben also reiterated the outline of the gospel, as found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Is there something you would die for? Is there someone who would ‘die for you’? And ‘live for you’? If you are a believer, you think of Christ Jesus (now, these are some thoughts I had as I reflected upon this – Jesus died for believers in the sense of being punished on the cross for all their sins, and He lived for believers in the sense of living a perfect life, fulfilling all righteousness in God’s sight, and now those who trust in Him are clothed in His righteousness, not theirs. Jesus also lives to intercede for believers [c.f. Hebrews 7:22-28]). What do you live for? What would you die for? From 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, we see that Christ died, was buried, and He rose again. Some other verses to keep in mind, as this relates to believers, are Romans 4:25 and 2 Corinthians 5:21.
I remember, somewhere in the middle of this, Ben mentioning again that there’s, “probs with the bod” Do you remember that? :) Surely this is not all about us…God is the center. This was a good question from Ben; “Are we in it for God, or is it the other way round?” It would be sad if it were the other way round in your life. Then Ben talked about the Dilemma and the Solution. As shown from John 15:18ff, the truth is that the world naturally hates Christ and the gospel, and thus also hates you as well, as His follower. The dilemma is that you are commanded to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, yet the world is inclined towards hating it…and you [because of it]! There is pressure there, yet we should not be surprised.
Remember that at around this point Ben was trying to explain something and asked, “You guys know what a blog is, don’t you?” And someone said, “We have one!” That was funny :). Anyway, we did go on to finish up and Ben spoke of the solution. He referred to John 16:7ff and Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus Christ gave us Himself and He is with us always (Matthew 28:18-20). More specifically today, as believers we have the Holy Spirit (John 16:7ff). This has been true from the beginning of the church (c.f. Acts 1:8).
As I contemplated these things, I also came across the fact that even in the book we were mainly studying from there is reference to the Holy Spirit being the One who gives the power for proclamation (c.f. 1 Peter 1:12). It is from Him that we are compelled and empowered to speak the truth of the gospel…proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God. Is that not encouraging?
Remember also that there was an encouragement to pray…for ourselves and for those who do not believe.
Here we saw the dilemma and the solution as we proclaim the gospel...the excellencies of Christ Jesus!
Thanks Ben
Labels: PROCLAIM
posted by Happy D. @ 9:28 PM
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