Is it important? Or is it like an extracurricular activity in school ? (Football, drama, etc.)
- I Cor. 9:16 “For preaching the good news I claim no glory, for I am under compulsion to do so. It is woe to me if I do not preach the good news.” Firstly there is no personal glory.” . . . for I am under compulsion to do so.” A compulsion, a driving obsession. What brought about this compulsion, this obsession? Paul’s tremendous love of God and of Jesus Christ.
II Cor. 5:14,15 “For the love of Jesus Christ lays hold of us and brings us to this conclusion; one died for all, so that they all died; and He died for all so that all who live may no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose for them.” If God loved us so much that he would give his only Son to die for us, and if Jesus Christ loved us so much that He would be willingly led to the cross for us, then how can we refuse to do so? Should not we have this same compulsion???
- Ps 40:9,10 “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not refrained my lips, 0 LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.” Note what he has not done and what he has done. “I have not hid, refrained, concealed . . . I have preached, declared.” This should remind us of the parable of talents—those who did something with their talents were rewarded. The man who hid his, was rejected.
- Jer 20:8,9 (RSV) “Whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’ For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”
For Jeremiah to say “the word was made a reproach and a derision daily” must mean that he suffered much taunting and scorn because of his refusal to stop preaching. And it apparently got so bad that he decided he just wouldn’t preach anymore, but he couldn’t stop!
“I am weary with holding it in and I cannot.” He, like Paul, felt this burning obsession and could not stop even if he wanted to.
- Eze 33:7-9 “I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say to the wicked, 0 wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
Although the primary application here is to those Jews who probably knew the Truth, the principle still applies to those who do not. If they listen to us . . . wonderful!! If not, at least we can say that we tried, and as God told Ezekiel, “you have delivered your own soul.” (One thing we must keep in mind, is that a rejection is a rejection of God’s word, not of us! We cannot take it personally!)
- Esth 4:13,14 (RSV) “Mordecai told Esther, “Think not that in the King’s palace you will escape any more than all the Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”
Brothers and Sisters, how is it possible to keep silent about the Truth if it is the most important thing in our lives? We can easily keep silent on a number of issues that are not very important. But the Truth ??!! We simply cannot! We must not!
- 8:38 “Whosoever shall therefore be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Are we ashamed of Jesus or instead do we confess him? The apostles who heard these words, soon after this fled when the mob came to arrest Jesus. Peter denied three times that he even knew him. But they learned their lesson upon seeing him after his resurrection and then they dedicated the rest of their lives to preaching the risen Jesus. And by doing this, they sealed their future in his glorious Kingdom. What will be said of us?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One