Thursday, October 15, 2009

Proclaiming the Gospel With Boldness

You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.

-I Thessalonians 2:5



Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a sacred trust. God allows the preacher and those in the ministry to be trusted with a great and awesome task; that of proclaiming the way of salvation. That is a charge, a task, that should not only be taken seriously, but it merits handling with great care. The devil is alive and well, and he is out to not only discourage, but to destroy. The devil will look carefully until he finds a weakness, and he will take aim with lethal precision at that vulnerable spot. That reminds me of the English archers of Medieval England, which I love to read about. They were the most deadly fighting force on the battlefield until the advent of gunpowder. They would look for the weakness in their enemy; any exposed place between the armor was a target. And they would aim with deadly accuracy.

The devil works on us in like manner. We must be so close to God, so deep in His Word, so soaked in prayer, that we can stand when the devil starts firing his arrows – and they are always the flaming kind.

What Paul and Silas preached was just the good old Gospel; they didn’t try to dress it up, flower it up, or water it down, but rather they just proclaimed it. And they did so with great fervor, dedication, and commitment. That calling to do so has not changed - not for a moment. We too are called to preach the Word with boldness and commitment as we stand firm against the forces of darkness in the world.

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