Published by admin on 14 May 2002 at 09:38 pm
PREACH AND TEACH JESUS CHRIST
The book of Acts was called that because the disciples did something. After the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples who had followed him to the cross, then witnessed him alive again did something. They didn’t just think something, they took action. That action of preaching Jesus got them in lots of trouble sometimes.
They were often beaten, jailed, and some of them were stoned for preaching Jesus. In Acts 5, the apostles were jailed for teaching about Jesus. They were brought before the council and the High Priest who asked them, saying, “Did we not straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince, and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Ghost, of whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
Later, the council agreed with Gamaliel, a Pharisee, to beat them and let them go, commanding them again that they should not speak in the name of Jesus. “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, and daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.”
Here in America, not many suffer physical punishment for preaching Jesus, but you’d think so because the name of Jesus is heard mostly only in churches. Seldom do I hear anyone at a store or in someone’s home teaching and preaching Jesus. And yet these apostles spoke openly of Jesus everywhere they went, in the temple, in the streets, in people’s houses, wherever there were people, they preached Jesus. And that was even at the threat of beating, jail, or death! What was it that the early church had that made them so bold??
Well, for one thing, they had eye witnesses that walked with Jesus both before and after the cross. Those people were convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus was the Savior, the one the prophets told of. They had witnessed firsthand the power, authority, and person of Jesus. He was real to them, not a story in a book, or a story about someone in a far away land that existed long ago. It’s easy to see why they were all fired up. After all, they were there and saw it.
Of course, Paul had his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, but it was real enough to turn his whole life upside down. And Paul wrote a great deal of the New Testament. Now today, we have the living account of the living Jesus, the things he began to teach and to do.
So what happens now? Do we read about Jesus and say “that’s very nice” and go on about our daily activities like nothing happened? Or, do we do as the early apostles did, and teach and preach Jesus? I rather think we should preach Jesus everywhere. Anywhere there are people, there are those who need Jesus. We all need Him. We have the most wide open door to preach the gospel that there has ever been, since the terrorists attacked America. If the devil had known it would make people seek God as never before in America’s history, he would never have arranged the attacks. No one is threatening us with death for preaching Jesus, so what are we waiting for? Is Jesus not alive to us today? Is the word of God not alive to us today?
If Jesus is who the apostles said he was, then woe to us if we don’t preach and teach in Jesus’ name. Obviously, if people were willing to hazard their lives to preach Jesus, there must be powerful reasons.
The written word of God is just as much God as the spoken words of Jesus. They were alive and powerful then, and they are alive and powerful today. We can read the words and it’s just like we are there with them. People haven’t changed so much from those times. There were believers then, and there are believers today. There were scoffers and unbelievers then, just as there are today. People come and go, but the word of God endures forever. What God did then, He does now. He is “I AM”, He changes not.
So, it would stand to reason that the word of God should impact our lives today just the same way, and to the same degree that it impacted the apostles of the early church. The word of God is alive, not a dead legend. God is changing lives today. He is saving souls today. He is healing spirits, minds and bodies today. Isn’t that enough to blast you out of your easy chair and get you to preach Jesus? He is saying “come unto me” to all mankind. Shouldn’t we be saying the same thing?
Or maybe you think it’s no big deal, nothing to get all excited about. I mean, after all, it’s just a story in a book, right?? Or is it? Maybe you’d better think about that one for a while. The apostles never ceased to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Maybe they knew something that we don’t. They wrote it down so we could know today what they knew then. Get into God’s word and read it for yourself.
Let God touch you just like He touched them, and you, too, will not cease to teach and preach Jesus Christ!
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Heb 13:8