Really?
So what IS this Gospel, then? What is this Good News that can be preached mainly by action, and by words merely as a supplement?
That the most Holy Sovereign God created all things for His Glory? That mankind was created in His image so that we all have no excuse but to fellowship with God and value Him supremely? That instead of doing this, mankind valued itself more and sought to gain knowledge to be just like God? That for this monumental act of treason alone, each and every human being rightly deserves judgement?
That hell is not the problem? But that SIN is the problem and that hell is the Just & Fair solution to it? But by God's Sovereign Grace, He did not treat us as our sin deserves. Instead He came down to us as Jesus the son of man in the flesh, to preach the Kingdom of God, to die for the penalty of sins and to rise up again, declaring that He indeed is Christ, the Son of God!
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
"Preach the gospel... and use words if necessary?"
Dear friends, if we're not properly using GOD's words from His Word, then we ain't preaching the Gospel properly. God's eternal Word is always necessary.
All Glory, Honour and Praise belong to our God Jesus Christ alone.
"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." -- The Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:1-5
PREACH THE WORD!
Here's an interesting little tidbit from our Roman Catholic friends. Many seem to attribute the "Preach-the-gospel-and-use-words-if-necessary" quote to Francis of Assisi. But according to an American Catholic website:
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." -- The Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:1-5
PREACH THE WORD!
Here's an interesting little tidbit from our Roman Catholic friends. Many seem to attribute the "Preach-the-gospel-and-use-words-if-necessary" quote to Francis of Assisi. But according to an American Catholic website:
When did Francis say, "Preach the Gospel at all times... Use words if
necessary"?
This is a great quote, very Franciscan in its spirit, but not literally from St. Francis. The thought is his; this catchy phrasing is not in his writings or in the earliest biographies about him.
In Chapter XVII of his Rule of 1221, Francis told the friars not to preach unless they had received the proper permission to do so. Then he added, “Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds.”
A few years ago, someone used the Internet to contact some of the most eminent Franciscan scholars in the world, seeking the source of this “Use words if necessary” quote. It is clearly not in any of Francis’ writings. After a couple weeks of searching, no scholar could find this quote in a story written within 200 years of Francis’ death.
From http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/fj092302.asp#F2
