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THE
NEW LIFE by
John Marshall
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Chapter
8 • PREACHING
THE GOSPEL
The
saints now have the hope of glory, but they also have the
task that Israel failed to fulfil, "to show forth"
the Name, honour and purposes of God. They have to cry, to
proclaim, to herald, to preach the good news of Christ and
the kingdom of God, as well as the goodness of the loving
Father. "The Lord is rich unto all that call upon him."
How Shall People Hear?
The Apostle Paul posed an ever-present problem in regard to
the richness of the Lord's mercy towards people who would
turn to Him: "How shall they hear without a preacher?"
Who will proclaim to the people the wonder and the ways of
God's love? Paul quotes Isaiah: "How beautiful are the
feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things !"
He does this not only to show how wonderful the task is, but
that it is the duty of every child of God to proclaim this
good news. Necessity was laid upon him, for as he wrote, "Woe
is unto me, if I preach not the gospel !"
There is such wonder in our call that it would dishonour the
love of God to withhold it from others. If, as Paul wrote,
God raised up Pharaoh "that my name might be published
abroad in all the earth", what does He expect of us,
His saints "whom He has raised to heavenly places in
Christ"?
The Father expects that His children will preserve the majesty
and honour of His Name in all that they say and do. Paul gave
examples of this when he exhorted that servants should count
their masters worthy of honour "that the name of God
and the doctrine be not blasphemed" ; and that young
women should not only love their husbands and children but
"be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being
in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God
be not blasphemed."
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References
1 Peter 2v9 RV, Rom 10v13, Rom 10v14-15,
1 Cor 9v16, Rom 9v17, 1 Tim 6v1, Titus 2v4-5
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Chapter
8 • PREACHING THE GOSPEL
In humility, modesty
and love, the goodness of God is portrayed in the lives of His children
so that His honour is sustained and His mercies made manifest. This
is the imitation of God which the Apostle exhorted in his epistle
to the Ephesians.
The Wisdom and Knowledge of God
In our lives we preach or proclaim the wisdom and knowledge of God
about which Paul became lyrical in his epistle to the Romans: "O
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing
out!" And this wisdom and knowledge should not only be heard
by those who will listen, but should be seen in the lives of those
who preach. For, says James: "The wisdom that is from above
is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, full
of mercy and good fruits, without variance, and without hypocrisy."
A herald, a preacher, a life of goodness, wisdom and knowledge.
That is the task and the life of every saint. We are heralds of
Jesus our head, who is to come again. He was the perfect word, or
wisdom of God made flesh; he is His salvation; he is the king of
glory; he is the peacemaker; he is our righteousness; and every
one of us would dishonour God if we withheld from others His arm
of salvation.
Today, more than ever before, the world longs for stability, for
peace, for solutions to economic problems, for the hope of a brighter
future: and it finds only despair and darkness and possible self-destruction.
The saints add to their preaching of God's goodness, wisdom, knowledge:
all perfected in His unique Son, the hope of the kingdom that will
provide all the longed-for attributes of ordered government throughout
the world, so that all peoples will know God and His gifts.
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References
Eph 5v1 RV, Rom 11v33, James 3v17 RV
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