Let Your Faith be Proclaimed to the World
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” Romans 1:8 Apostle Paul says to the church in Rome.
Now Paul states this to the church of Rome that your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. After the resurrection of Jesus, the first and second century people were antagonistic towards the faith of the resurrection. However, Paul, still tells this church in Rome, your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. The faith that the promised Messiah was raised from the dead and ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Although the gospel was heavily rejected during the 1st century, the Apostle Paul sees and appreciates their dramatically improved faith in Jesus Christ as a church of Rome in the 1st century. So, He says your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Let us ask this question to ourselves: How is our faith in Christ Jesus? Have we let our faith be spoken to the whole world? Are we living like a 1st century believer of Rome? Just like 1st century churches, we as a church in the 21st century must believe and be faithful in Jesus Christ. Even in a society that is antagonistic towards the faith of God, we must strive to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world. Everyone was talking about faith, the gospel of God, power, and a savior who was risen from the dead. Amen. What happened to us as a church in our society and in our culture? The 1st century churches grew in the most persecuted parts of the world. Here, today in America, we do not even hear about the idea of persecution of the churches, and yet we fear proclaiming the word of God.
We must show and proclaim our faith through keeping God’s Word even when it hurts, through being honest with our dealing, through practicing morality with both our bodies and minds, and through admitting mistakes and doing what is necessary for redemption. In order to expand the kingdom of God. This is one of the greatest Commandments the Lord gave to us as His disciples.
Good News:
Romans 1:1 starts with “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, who was called to be an apostle and set apart for the good news of God.” The Bible calls it the gospel. The Bible calls it the gospel of the kingdom, but, in this text, Paul says it's God's good news. It's good news from the Creator. Proclaiming this good news is not a suggestion. It's God, the creator of all things, who sustains you right now. He holds your breath in His hands. That last breath that you took was given from Him. He sustains us through His glory and goodness and love. This is His good news He wants all His children to hear.
Now, Paul says in Romans 1:2-4 “which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who [a]was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
Jesus Christ is our Lord. He came down to the world as a humble man and died on the cross for our sins. He gave us salvation, eternal life, and freedom from death and sin. He called us to be His children and live with Him in holy eternity. Paul says, “Jesus Christ our Lord through whom we have received Grace”. Therefore, we must understand how Paul's vision was and how our vision has not been. Ephesians 2:8 states “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; It is the gift of God.” Dear church, apostleship is to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name. Not for the sake of ourselves, but for the glory of God. The Lord calls us to spread this gift among all the nations. For all the nations, including you, were called to belong to Jesus Christ. We need to understand this. We talked about the good news amongst ourselves, but the good news is not a suggestion to the world. The good news is not good advice. The good news is not Jesus asking you to give him a chance or just to try Him. The Apostle Paul says that he's called with this gospel to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations. We are also called to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations. Because the gospel is a gift from God, not something dropped into history as a novelty.
God’s Faithfulness:
We need to know that you and I are sitting here today are testimonies of God's covenant faithfulness. Many of us are the descendants of gentile or pagan ancestors. We are not of Jewish by descent, nor sit in a long line of prophetic fulfillment. We are a testimony of God's covenant faithfulness. God promised us in the scriptures. In Genesis 49:10 Moses says, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. God promised Messiah was going to come, a king was coming, He was bringing a kingdom.”
Psalms 2:8 ‘says ask of me and I'll give you the nation for your inheritance’. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ! God wants us to call upon Him; to call upon His name. As His children we are to call upon His name in order to inherit the kingdom of God. For I say to you, the Lord is bringing a kingdom. When our savior ascended into heaven, he said, in Matthew 28:18-20 “all authority has given to me in heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Through God’s faithfulness, we are saved. Therefore the Lord calls on us to share His faithfulness, so others may also be saved for the kingdom of God.
ILL: Once a Jewish girl asked some questions to a Baptist pastor about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. She made the pastor promise not to talk about anything from the New Testament because she didn’t believe it. So the pastor started to talk to her completely from the Old Testament about Jesus. They spent about two weeks together in the scriptures of the Old Testament like Isaiah 9:6 that God is coming as a son and as a child. He is the father of eternity, who's the only eternal one. God is the only eternal one that eternal one is coming as a son and as a child according to Isaiah chapter 9.
And in Isaiah 53, He was pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being was upon him and by his wounds we are healed. The Lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief that he was going to be counted among the rebels that he would justify the many because he would bear their iniquities. In the text Micah 5:2 that God was coming to Bethlehem the actual timing in Daniel chapter 9. So if Jesus isn't the messiah who is the Messiah. The girl completely agreed and finally said, “I believe Jesus and He is the Messiah”.
Redemption and Faith:
The message of the gospel always comes with a call to repent and show faith. The gospel is still good news. God is still mighty to save, and God still raises the dead.
The Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 9, as soon as he comes to Christ, he says in Galatians that he persecuted the church and he tried to destroy it. We know that he's guilty of killing at least one Christian and throwing others in jail, but as soon as Jesus knocks him off his high horse, as soon as he turns to Christ, it says in Acts chapter 9 immediately he goes to Damascus. He goes to the synagogues. It says that he argued with the Jews proving that Jesus was the Messiah. Paul went into Damascus, and he entered the synagogues proclaiming Christ. He starts being the kind of Christian that actually argues with others for the truth of faith and tells the truth in a sense that he's bold and confident. He was willing to take the sacrifice for the Lord. He strived for redemption and proclamation of faith. Like Paul, each and every one of us are also called by the Lord to proclaim our faith.
Romans 3: 24-26 states, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
So what becomes the result? What is the result of the bold proclamation of the gospel that comes into the culture and sacrifices everything for the sake of love for God?
Proclaiming the Word:
Many people have said over the years, you shouldn't go to those hard places. You shouldn't go to the Mormon temple, where there's a hundred thousand people present. You shouldn't go to the Jehovah's Witnesses. You shouldn't hold public debates with atheists. They say that's not the way to do it. They say you should hold barbecues and have football gatherings so you can preach the gospel. But we say, show us where that is in the New Testament. Where does it say in the New Testament that proclaiming the word of God will be easy?
Many times, a bold proclamation of the faith in the word of God can get in the face of culture and society and can cause us to sacrifice everything. Sometimes those sacrifices will include friendships and loved ones. But never forget that the proclamation of the gospel is essential to the word of God. The gospel is a gift from God, which He has entrusted for us to give and share to others.
There's an underlying message in the gospels. We are sinners against a holy and limitlessly, powerful God. He is love and He is justice and He is good. He's good and we are not. He is righteous and we are NOT. And yet, the Lord calls upon us to be His children. He calls upon His to live with Him in Zion. He calls us to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
There is clear teaching in the New Testament that after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all believers receive the Holy Spirit through faith at the moment of salvation (Gal. 3:2-5). He seals us as a pledge of our inheritance (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). He dwells in our bodies (1 Cor. 6:19). He baptizes us all into the body of Christ, so that we all drink from the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). He gives spiritual gifts to every Christian according to His sovereign will (1 Cor. 12:4-30). Paul says that if anyone does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9).
Thus, the Lord calls on us as His children to proclaim His word among all the nations. We may all know this as The Great Commission. However, we may not be like Paul and Peter. Evangelism may not be our full-time career. However, the Lord says every Christian should be ready to make a defense for the hope that is in him when God gives the opportunity (1 Pet. 3:15; Col. 4:5-6).
Christian Duty:
The Great Commission is a special privilege and responsibility that belongs to each and every Christian. The purpose of Jesus’ incarnational ministry, according to Luke 19:10, was “to seek and save the lost.” He loved people’s souls with an eternal and sacrificial love. The Bible reveals that God expects us to do the same.
Immediately prior to his ascension to heaven, Jesus said to his followers, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV).
This is a huge task that each generation of believers must take very seriously. We’re not responsible for the previous generation or even the future generation beyond our time, but we will be held accountable for our present generation. There are people living around us who don’t know Christ and aren’t in a saved relationship with Him. It may be someone you know at work, school, or from extracurricular activities. It may even be a member of your own family, the next-door neighbor, or a Facebook friend. Who is going to tell them the “good news” (or gospel) of Jesus if you don’t? You may just be their only chance — their only hope.
We often are presented with unique opportunities to talk with others about Christ. Sometimes, the important topic of God comes up in our informal conversations, even with strangers we meet in the waiting room at the clinic or customer service center. God calls upon us to share His good news, to share of His faithfulness, and to help bring forth redemption and faith. As a Christian, it is our duty to share the love of God as He commanded us to do.
Of course, there will be trials. There will be sacrifices and tribulations. “So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who SHALL NOT receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10: 29-30)
The Lord will bless those who share His good news.
