LUKE 9:7-9 The Importance of Preaching the Gospel

[Saturday Nights at Selah with Phillip Ma]

Last week, we looked at a profile of the Christian messenger.  In studying the twelve apostles first call to missions work, we observed how we, as believer should preach the gospel.  Not only how to preach the gospel but how to do it well.  But the failure of the modern church today is the very little gospel preaching it does.  As believers, how many of us really do a good job evangelizing?  How many of us consistently, constantly and continually tell people about Jesus?  I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t. 

But why not?  Why don’t we tell the gospel to people?  Well there are a number of reasons: we are so busy and caught up with our own things, we think we don’t have time for it.  We don’t care too much about sharing the gospel with other people.  Many times, we’re scared or a little embarrassed to witness.

But let me tell you another reason…we don’t think it works too often.  We don’t think it works that much.  Many times, we think sharing the gospel is a waste of time because it never really works.  No one ever believes.  They mostly laugh or just brush it off.  Every time I try, I crash and burn.  So we kind of lose hope and faith in the power of the message.

But is this attitude correct?  No.  Is sharing the gospel a waste of time?  No.  To have that kind of thought is to directly question the judgment of God.  God has chosen preaching the gospel as the vehicle through which a person can believe in Jesus and go to heaven.  We are commissioned to that and do that only.  That’s it.  There is nothing else.  So to believe it doesn’t really work is to not trust God.  And we don’t want to do that.

So why should I preach the gospel?    Besides the fact that God commands it, why should I preach the gospel?  To put it another way, why is it vital for believers to preach the message of salvation?  Though it seams hard and often a waste of time, why is it important that Christians share the gospel?

Well we’re gonna try to answer that tonight.  As you may recall, Jesus has sent his twelve disciples out on their first missions trip.  The twelve that Jesus took aside for intensive training and teaching are now on their first assignment.  He sends them out to preach to the entire area of Galilee.  We’re about 18 months into Jesus’ three year ministry and Jesus is about to leave this northern area to travel to other regions and eventually on down to Jerusalem.  So before he leaves Galilee, he wants to make a final mega outreach campaign.  He wants to save as many people in this area as possible before he leaves.  Now because Jesus does not have enough time to cover every city and town, he sends out the twelve telling them to preach the kingdom and heal the sick.  To essentially do what he’s been doing the past year and a half.

So in Luke 9:6, we read that the twelve “departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”  It says they ministered “everywhere”.  They preached in every city and every town of that region.  There was not a place that was missed.  Now during his campaign, at least one or two of the twelve entered the city where King Herod lived.  Herod Antipas was king or what was called tetrarch over the northern area of Galilee and the eastern area of Perea.  He may have been the son of Herod the Great, the one who killed the babies when Jesus was born.  Though he was called King Herod, he was still under the power of Rome.  So he couldn’t do anything he wanted, he still had to be under Rome’s dominion.  Nevertheless, he was still very powerful politically and ruled that area for most of Jesus’ life.  Anyway, one or two of the twelve hit Herod’s city with the gospel.  He preached the gospel, healed people, and may have casted demons out of some people.  Eventually, news of what was happening reached the palace.  People in the palace started talking about how these guys were sent by a man named Jesus who was doing and saying all this crazy stuff throughout the land.  In time, the works and ministry of Jesus landed in Herod’s ear.  So lets read what happens to Herod when he hears kingdom message Jesus was preaching.  Lets turn to Luke 9 and we’re going to read verses 7-9.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?" So he sought to see Him.

The gospel has great potential.

           

Why should we tell others about Jesus?  Though it seams hard and often a waste of time, why is it important that Christians share the gospel?  For one thing, the gospel has great potential.  The gospel message has the ability to reach any person.  The life and ministry of Jesus can impact any person: rich, poor, old, young, important, not so important.  People from all walks of life are never too far from the kingdom message.

           

Up to now, Jesus has been ministering in the outskirts of the nation.  Today, it would be like someone living and teaching in Bakersfield.  Away from the LA, OC, the capital.  An small insignificant area of the country.  Up to now, he has impacted the lowly of society.  Fishermen, prostitutes, tax collectors, a centurion once in a while but no one of great importance. 

But eventually, Jesus’ life and ministry trickles all the way up to the most powerful man in the area.  King Herod himself.  The gospel has great potential.  It has the ability to go anywhere and touch anyone.

I heard a story once of a pastor named David Choi who was a Korean American pastor who does a lot of inner city ministry work in Chicago…  He was able to meet Michael Jordan, shake his hands and say “God bless you”.

Adam Baldwin is famous celebrity who got saved a few years ago and is now on fire for the Lord…

The gospel has great potential.  It has the ability to reach any person…rich poor famous or not so famous.  Let me tell you something else, the gospel has the ability to reach even the worse sinners.  King Herod was an extremely immoral man.  He was a horrible sinner.  He comes from an immoral family.  His father murdered hundreds possibly thousands of innocent babies.  As for Herod, let me tell some of the things he did: he had an affair with this brother’s wife Herodias.  Not only did he have an affair with his brother’s wife Herodias, he lusted after Herodias’ own daughter so much so that cut off John the Baptist’s head because of her.  He was not a good person.  Yet the gospel reached even him.

Now you might say I live in a bubble and will never have an opportunity to meet people like that.  I’m never going to meet Michael Jordan or be exposed to hardened sinners or criminals.  I’m never going to take the gospel that far up.  If you completely commit and surrender to sharing the gospel, how do you know God won’t take you there?  Do you think Billy Graham, when he committed his life to serving God think he was going to be praying for Presidents of the United States?  No.  He offered his life to God and God took him there.

The gospel has great potential; it just needs people to faithfully share it.

The gospel stirs up hearts.

Not only is it important for Christians to share the gospel because it has great potential, but also because the gospel stirs up hearts.  Once the gospel is truly heard, a person will be deeply stirred over the person of Jesus.  This message we preach pierces souls.  It is the sword of God’s spirit that cuts into the hearts of people.

Luke says that when Herod heard of all that was done by Jesus, was perplexed.  The actual Greek means he was greatly perplexed.  He was at a loss for words.  Because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead and by some that Elijah had appeared and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod was not just hearing about Jesus he was hearing about what others thought of Jesus.  Some said he was the second coming of John the Baptist.  Some said he was like Elijah.  Others said Jesus was like one of the other OT prophets like Moses or Samuel.  So Herod was at a complete loss for words.  All he could say was “who is this?”  Who is this that says he’s been sent from God?  Who is this that raises people from the dead?  Who is this that invites people to be part of God’s kingdom?  Upon hearing the gospel message, Herod’s heart has been sifted and shaken from the inside out.  All he can say is “Who is this?”

One day when we’re in heaven it might be surprising to find out how many rich, famous, powerful, or even friends we know have had the hearts stirred or shaken up by the gospel message.  We will be shocked to find out how many people have asked Herod’s question within their own hearts.  “Who is this Jesus?”  Who is this man that says he can forgive sins and take people to heaven?  Is he real?  Is what he says true?  Even the critics.  Even the ones who are so expressly anti-God and anti-Christian.  You know that if you throw a brick at a pack of dogs, the one that barks the loudest is the one that got hit.  Well perhaps the reason why some are so loud their objections to Christianity is because their hearts have been hit hard with the gospel message.

The gospel stirs hearts.  But you see we must preach the gospel before it can stir people’s hearts.

Now, I do admit that sometime it seems that the gospel message just goes over a person’s head.  You talk to someone about Jesus and they say wow that’s great.  Cool.  That’s a really good idea.  No emotional response whatsoever.  It seems like you threw the ball way outside strike zone.  Well, we don’t truly know what’s in a person’s heart.  They may seem completely uninterested on the outside but it might be a different story deep inside their heart.  Also, they may just need more time for their hearts to hear.  Sometimes, it might take more than spending five minutes sharing the gospel.  We might have to witness over and over again.  We may have to demonstrate evidence of the gospel in our own life before the words actually sink in.  It seems like the disciples got instant results when they preached.  But they doesn’t always happen.  We sometimes need to learn a little patience.

Stirred hearts long to know more about Jesus.

Why is important that Christians share the gospel?  Because the gospel has great potential.  Because it can stir up hearts and stirred up hearts long to know more about Jesus.  A person who has been shaken up over Jesus greatly desires to find out more about Him.  A heart cut by the Word of God will hunger to know more about him.  A pierced soul will day after day seek to discover the person who did the piercing.

In verse 9 Herod again poses the question to himself  “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?”  So he sought to see him.  With the gospel reaching all up to him in his palace, with his heart completely stirred up, King Herod deeply desired to meet this man he had heard so much about.  An open exposed heart now needs to be filled. 

When I was a kid, I used to get and buy those chocolate Easter bunnies during Easter.  You know those little bunny statutes made entirely of chocolate.  Now it depends on what you get.  If you get a good one, it is a solid chocolate bunny inside out.  But if you get a cheap one, when you break off the head or leg to eat you find out it’s completely hollow inside.  And you’re like what a jip. 

When the gospel cuts open a person’s heart, he realizes perhaps for the first time the emptiness inside of him.  He realizes he is not rock solid inside.  He realizes he is not as fulfilled as the thought.  He is empty.  And he now seeks to fill it.

Now I will say this.  Herod never believed.  He spent one and half years trying to meet this man Jesus he had heard so much about.  And when he finally met him during Jesus’ trial, he mocked and rejected him.  What?  He never believed.  He went through all this and he never believed.  A person can go through all this and still not believe?  Yeah.  But you see that’s not my job.  It’s not much job to cause a person’s heart to believe.  That portion belongs to the Holy Spirit.  It is the Spirit that gives a person faith to believe.  The Spirit turns the hearts of men to God.  If preaching the gospel were that mechanical would never need or depend on the Spirit.

Conclusion

Why is it important for Christians to share the gospel?  Because of its great potential to reach any person.  Because of its ability to stir a person’s heart.  And because that stirring will result in a longing for Jesus.