Motivation to share the Gospel

The glory of God and the Lamb of God receiving the reward of His suffering should motivate us to share the Gospel, the power unto salvation, with the world and all we hold dear.

Coupled with that is the work of God in our own hearts. That divine work of transferring what was once vile, ugly and wretched from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light should be reason enough to share the Gospel,  with others.

It should be an overflow of the work of God in our hearts.

But sometimes we need extra motivation.

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” -1 Timothy 1:15

That should be the motivation. We are sinners, separated from God because of our sinfulness, but Jesus came to save us. He took our sin, produced our pardon and, by the grace of God, tasted death for everyone so that through it He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:9, 14).

Thankfulness should envelop our hearts as we recognize the power in His death and the power in His life; the life He holds out to us. At the same time, we should recognize the life we can now hold out to others through the Gospel.

While reading through Isaiah on Monday, I read some verses that reminded me of the urgency wrapped up in the familiar (sometimes too familiar) command to preach [definition = publicly proclaim; teach] the Gospel to all the nations (which includes the one you’re in now).

JOLT OF MOTIVATION:

“Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.” -Isaiah 13:9

“Oh that you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river; and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before Me.” -Isaiah 48:18-19

“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” -Isaiah 66:24

If you haven’t read “That Hideous Doctrine” by John Thomas, do it. Let the reality of hell sink in and may it propel you to live and speak the Gospel to those you encounter.

“Do we live in a manner that says we believe in hell?” -Francis Chan

Do we? Do our lives reflect that eternal damnation is real and that all who haven’t absolutely surrendered to God not just as Savior but as Lord of their life, will experience His wrath?

I would say, for the most part, a resounding ‘no’ would answer that. Our society is comfortable with ignoring the realness of hell and the realness of the impending judgment on all who don’t believe.

All the while we hoard the very life that can save them.

 “…Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery…nor with a pretext for greed…nor did we seek glory from people…So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” -1 Thessalonians 2:4-8

May that be said of us.