HF114 - The Proclamation of a King
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Mon, March 17, 2004
Subject: Bible Study HF114 - The Proclamation of a King
Hebraics,
We were crossing a mountain range to get to a village on the
border of Honduras and Guatemala. I began asking the Lord what
He wanted me to say to the village people. (I've found this is the
quickest way to get an answer.) No sooner had I made the heart
prayer, that I had this impression; "Tell them that you are an
ambassador from the kingdom of God, and that you have a
message from the King."
Something did happen in the village that evening that I'll share
about later in the study. I want to use this incident as a backdrop
for the following study. (This study is not about the priesthood of
the believer. It has to do with the preacher of the gospel.)
This is Bible Study HF114 - The Proclamation of a King.
The gospel is not simply a story about God's power to save
through the cross. The gospel is actually the saving power of God
itself. This is why people get saved under the influence of
preaching. And this is why Paul said, "For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Rom1:16)
While we know that the term gospel means good news, or glad
tidings, what we may not always realize is that the preaching of the
gospel involves the heralding the kingship of Jesus Christ. The
God-called preacher is a 'herald.' He is a public crier. His job is to
announce to his listeners that God's King has been installed. This
official announcement calls for an allegiance to the King.
Because the preacher holds an official work in the kingdom of
God, we have this admonition, "How will they preach unless they
are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news of good things!'" (Rom10:15)
When Paul
said, "How will they preach unless they are sent?" he is drawing
attention to an official herald or a spokesman for the King.
This is a factor that isn't always understood. While all God's people
have the right to testify to their salvation in Christ, and can
minister in many ways, not everyone is given the task of being a
herald of the gospel, that is, not in the true sense of the word.
The herald has to be approved. It is required that he have the
message right. Once he is approved, he then can be given an
appointment as a herald for the King. And when the herald speaks,
the voice of the King is heard. (This is not to glorify preachers. It
has to do with understanding the role of a preacher.)
Paul said, "For our exhortation does not come from error or
impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by
God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing
men, but God who examines our hearts." (1Th2:4)
Notice that the
gospel in this sense is a sacred trust. But it is only given to the
herald after a heart examination is completed.
In another place the apostle says, "For there is one God, and one
mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who
gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper
time. For this [testimony] I was appointed a preacher and an
apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and truth." (1Tim2:5-7)
Notice that Paul divides
his calling into three areas, preacher, apostle, and teacher.
With regard to the preacher, I realize the term 'herald' may seem a
bit confusing, but it really does describe the job of a God-called,
God-equipped, and God-sent preacher.
The first herald of the gospel in the New Testament was John the
Baptist. It says, "Now in those days John the Baptist came,
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 'Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Mat3:1)
The term 'preaching' is kerusso (kay-roos'-so). Kerusso means to
be a public crier, a herald, to proclaim an official message. It
carries the idea of formality. In the case of Jesus Christ, the
preacher is the herald of a message that carries in it the very
power of heaven to change in the hearts and lives of believers.
The message is God's message. The change can only take place
where an allegiance is made to the King. Jesus spoke of the final
end time sign, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end
shall come." (Matt24:14)
Thus we hear Jesus tell his apostles, "You did not choose Me but I
chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear
[kingdom] fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever
you ask of the Father in My name He may give it you." (John
15:16)
What Jesus said to the original apostles, He said also to Paul.
Ananias said to him, "The God of our fathers has appointed you to
know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an
utterance from His mouth." (Act
22:14)
The apostles were chosen and then appointed to be heralds for
Christ. They were to be official representatives of the King.
(Ambassadors.) Because of their unique calling, they could ask the
Father for whatever they may need to accomplish their work. They
were only to ask in the name of their King, Jesus, and for the sake
of His kingdom. Every God ordained preacher afterwards is also a
herald. They, too, can ask the Father for whatever they may need
to accomplish His work.
It is the preaching of the gospel that Satan fears the most. Martin
Luther said, "The Devil does not mind the written word but he is
put to flight whenever it is preached aloud." When C. H. Spurgeon
was asked to write a defense on the gospel, he said, "The gospel
does not need to be defended. It is like a caged lion. Just turn it
loose and it will take care of itself."
So the herald of the gospel is a man with a message. He must
understand it. He must not corrupt it. He is responsible for its
proper delivery. This is why one of the most urgent warnings in the
Bible has to do with those who distort the gospel of Jesus Christ.
To add anything to the Kingdom message, or to take anything
away from its simplicity, is to place one's self under condemnation.
The apostle said, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should
preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you,
he is to be accursed!" (Gal1:8)
James added that God's people are
not to take to themselves of being many teachers, because the
teacher will receive the greater condemnation. (James
3:1)
The herald of the gospel is not a kingdom builder for himself. He
has one responsibility and that is to announce the King. Paul said,
"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am
under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For
if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I
have a stewardship entrusted to me." (1Co9:16,17)
Stewardship speaks of the management of another's property. All
true ministers of the gospel have been given a stewardship in
which they hold responsibility for. But they also have the authority
that comes with the stewardship. This means that God Himself will
supply the herald (minister) with whatever he may need, or with
whatever he may ask the Father for, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
The pulpit ministry has always been a fearful place for me. (I say
this truthfully.) Some folk have an itch to be in the pulpit, but that
was never my case. When the Lord first began releasing to me
more responsibility with regard to preaching, I would write across
my sermon notes, 'Preach without offense.' I was afraid that I
would damage someone through my own ignorance, and yes,
even my own arrogance. (Ignorance and arrogance usually have
to be worked out of the young preacher.)
But it has been nigh forty years now since I first stood before a
people and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a difference
forty years can make. In all this I still stand amazed at what
happens in the preaching of the gospel. I stand in awe at how the
Lord works through the heralding of the message. What a joy to
see hearts and lives changed simply through the proclaiming of
King Jesus.
Now for the old Indian --- The peoples gathered until the building
overflowed. Men sat in the windows. There was no room left to sit
down. The door was crowded with people. Little children were
everywhere. When I opened my mouth, I said, "I come to you not
as an ambassador of the United States, but as an ambassador of
the kingdom of God. And I have a message for you from the
King."
That's when it happened. At that moment awesomeness settled on
everyone. All eyes were fixed on me. Then I began sharing the
message of God's Son. The gospel was working deeply. The voice
of the King was being heard. (Yes, Christ Himself speaks to the
people in the preaching of the gospel.) As I brought my message
to a close, the old Indian man stood up and began walking
towards the front. He was coming to pay allegiance to the King. He
wasn't the only one, but he was the one that had my total attention.
It was as though the Lord was allowing me to see how the gospel
works. Paul explained it this way; "For this reason we also
constantly thank God that when you received the word of God
which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,
but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its
work in you who believe." (1Th2:13)
Let's consider a couple of Scriptures that speak to the issue of
preaching. Paul tells us that the gospel is a living message in that
the very voice of Jesus is heard in it. He said, "So faith [salvation
faith] comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
(Rom10:17)
The term for word here speaks of a living voice, or an
utterance. It includes the idea of a command. The command is to
be obedient in accepting God's King. There is no other Lord and
Savior. Jesus Christ alone is the King and Lord of all the earth.
Then we have this from the Lord, "I have other sheep, which are
not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My
voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." (John
10:16) How will the sheep hear His voice? They will hear His voice
primarily in the proclamation of the message of His kingdom.
To round out this part of the study, let me add one more dimension
to the proclamation of the King. In the preaching of the gospel the
voice of the King is heard. Paul calls this the power of the gospel.
This is why Satan fights so hard to keep the message from being
preached. He knows that the moment the voice of the King is
heard, and the moment a person believes and confesses
allegiance to King Jesus, he, that is, Satan, is put out of business.
Paul says that when a person hears the proclamation of the
gospel, and believes, that is, gives a heart allegiance to the King,
there is a transfer that takes place. And Satan knows that all a
person has to do to be saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and confess Him as Lord and Christ. Paul said, "For He [the Father]
rescued us from the domain [authority] of darkness, and
transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Cf. Col1:13,14)
And so forty years later I've seen countless numbers of people
come into the kingdom of our King and Savior. I've baptized untold
numbers. And, yes, I've seen miracles and healings without number.
But the greatest miracle of all still remains the same. It is the
miracle of the transfer that takes place through the proclamation of
God's holy King.
That’s it for now. The study is open. What are your thoughts?
The Lord bless you,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web:
http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)
Hebraic-Foundations is an online email conference which provides studies as well as offers
open discussion on the Biblical Christian. Its special emphasis is towards
the pre-325 A.D. Church.
To subscribe send an email to Hebraic-Foundations-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Once you've subscribed, messages should be sent to Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com.
Or you can subscribe by filling out the form below.
(Special note - This forum is not for Yahwists or Sabbatarians, or for
any who view the term 'Christian' in a derogatory way. Membership is
considered upon completion of a questionnaire.)
|
