It Only Makes Sense

Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing in this world that makes sense. If the gospel is truth does anything else matter? Man is sinful and radically depraved and worthy of all condemnation; that means that man is evil. Now contrast that with the fact that God is good, He is Holy, He is righteous, and because He is good the just thing for Him to do is punish man, to separate Himself from man forever. But God made a Way to be just and justifier at the same time, He Himself became a Man in the person of Jesus Christ His only Begotten Son and lived a good, perfect, and righteous life in Him. He Himself bore in His body the full righteous punishment for the sins of man and gave man His righteousness before God. We deserve death, we deserve to be separated from God in Hell for all eternity but God has given us a Way out by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith in Him. When we repent from our sins and by faith and by faith alone receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God counts His sacrifice as payment in full for our sins and looks at us as if we had lived the righteous life that Jesus lived. That is substitutionary atonement; He took our place receiving the just penalty for sin, which is death and separation from God and gave us His righteousness.(See Romans 3:23-28). He was raised from the dead on the third day defeating sin and death forever, appearing to His apostles, then ascending to the right hand of the Father in Heaven making intercession for us(Romans 8:34).

Now that being truth does anything else matter, does spending day after day gratifying yourself make any sense at all? Sure you need rest we all need rest and we all need a break at times but America is the most entertainment driven culture in the world. All of our free time is taken up by entertainment; even most church services have become nothing more than entertainment for the masses.

I call this blog “A Slave of Jesus Christ”, that is not a cliché or simply a catchy title it is the reality of being a Christian. I was recently reading brother Paul’s 1st letter to the church at Corinth and it brought this back to reality. In the 7th Chapter he said; “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor 7:23). He also said; “Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called” (1 Cor 7:24). To help us understand what he meant by that he started this paragraph saying; “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that” (1 Cor 7:21). As an example before coming to the Lord I had a wife and children, I am bond to provide for the needs of my wife and children both physically and now that I belong to the Lord spiritually. This means that I must work, providing them with enough money to buy food, clothing, and housing. And I am to remain in the condition I was in before God called me. That means you don’t leave your wife and children to go preach the gospel in a foreign land or to take up an itinerant ministry traveling across the country leaving your family to fend for themselves. You know what the word of God says about a man that does that; “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Now in the letter to Corinth Paul goes on to say; “For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave” (1Cor 7:22). In every aspect of your life were you are bond, like in my example you are the Lord’s freedman. But in every aspect of life were you are free you are the Lord’s slave and be honest with yourself you have some free time. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior has given us a command not an option but a command “and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). He has commanded us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

In summary, people don’t like the word slave but we are all slaves of something. Having a wife or children does not keep you from preaching the gospel. “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor 7:23). Most people become slaves of a life-style, we are to provide for the needs of our families we are not to keep up with the Joneses (for my non-American readers keeping up with the Joneses is an American fraise about pretence). Your family’s needs are more than food, clothing, and housing it is also our presence in the household. If we can go to a foreign land and preach the gospel while providing for our families needs, then we are to do so, taking them with us. I am not in full time ministry but that does not keep me from preaching the gospel in my community, country, and even in foreign lands for short periods of time. Now marriage and family I used as an example, but there are others. We are to remain in the condition we were in before being called, were we are bond we are the Lord’s freedman but where we are free we are the Lord’s slave. Nothing makes sense in this world outside of preaching the gospel. So take the time the Lord has given you and preach the gospel, nothing else makes sense.



Mike Peek a Slave of Jesus Christ



Here is a very short video that touched my heart, three men preaching the gospel in Nepal. If you read my blog “Sick if Church” back in February of this year you would know that I had read a story about a missionary preaching the gospel in Nepal, getting stoned then after praying for boldness went out to preach again the next day. The Lord used that story to convict me and send me out the door to preach and witness purposefully. In this video the second man preaching with the brown shirt and khaki pants is Jesse Boyd, it was Jesse's story that the Lord used to get me out the door to preach the gospel. Enjoy the video, it is beautiful.