Christians Steward the Gospel

Take your Bibles, if you would, please, and turn to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 2 is where we're at, and today's message is entitled, "Christians Stewart the Gospel." Ephesians chapter 2 will explain to us how the Apostle Paul explained how he is a steward of the gospel. And I want to look into that, and as you're turning to Ephesians chapter 2, I'd like you to keep in mind that we are ambassadors for Christ. The Bible says that we are ambassadors for Christ as God is pleading through us. We beg you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. That's 2 Corinthians 5.20. And so as we have been given what is called the ministry of reconciliation, we have a gospel issue within ourselves, a stewardship issue. We are to steward the gospel. We are to be good managers of it. Now I checked 25 different translations on 2 Corinthians 5.20, and the word "ambassador" was used, and all of those translations saved just three. And in one of the translations that did not use the word "ambassador," the contemporary English version, it doesn't. Instead, it says it this way, "We were sent to speak for Christ." Isn't that interesting? To speak for Christ. So as ambassadors, we are to speak for Christ. And here in Ephesians, we're going to learn a little bit more about what it is to steward the gospel. Ephesians also talks about being an ambassador for Christ. In Ephesians chapter 6 verses 19 and 20, it says, "Of the gospel, I am an ambassador." And so think of yourself on behalf of Christ, on behalf of the cross, sent by God to speak for Christ. To be an ambassador, you have a stewardship issue. Now before I read the text, I'd like for you to notice as well in Ephesians that this epistle is a prison epistle. That means Paul wrote it while he was in Rome in AD 60-62, somewhere around in there. But as well with Ephesians is not only Colossians, but also Philemon. Philemon is also a prison epistle that was written in AD 60-62, sometime around in there. And in Philemon 1-1, it says, "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus." And in verse 9 it says, "Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ." And I bring that up because this shows us that Paul was an aged man. And if you do a word study on the aged part, it just simply means the elderly senior. So he's an older senior at this time. He's an older man in the faith. And he is still suffering and ministering at the same time. You have got to love the perseverance of the saints. And so don't die on the golf course as you get older and retire. Keep ministering. Keep being an ambassador. Keep speaking for Christ. The Bible says in Psalm 92-14, "They shall bring forth fruit in old age." And so that's my prayer for this dear church, that we would still be stewards of the gospel even as we grow older. And you see that Paul is suffering and sharing the gospel as he's older. So let's read the text today in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 2 all the way down to verse 6. Ephesians 3-2 says, "If indeed you heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you," that being for the Gentiles, "that by revelation," that word revelation you have had your mind illuminated by God to the truth of his word. And so that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery which is Christ himself. The mystery as I wrote before in brief. That's interesting. So he's written something before. In verse 4, "About which," when you read, "you can understand," that's a positive statement there. "You can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ." Verse 5, "which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it was now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." And let's pause for a prayer. Father, thank you for this passage and I pray that you would help us to understand how Paul considered himself by your grace a steward of the priceless gospel and help us to not only study this but to put it into practice and to do it in Christ's name. Amen.

Point number one today is I want you to notice that Paul is responsible to share the gospel. Paul is responsible to share the gospel. This word "steward" in verse 2 has a lot of meaning behind it. It's the word "stewardship" of God's grace. And so in the ESV and the legacy translation, verse 2 uses the word "stewardship." But in the NASB, the New American Standard uses the word "administration." In the King James it uses the word "dispensation." So the Greek idea behind this amazing word primarily signifies management. And so you've been given something precious to manage, to oversee, to steward. I don't know about you, but if somebody has ever approached you and wanted to give to you something that really meant a lot to them and it was kind of like a priceless artifact, something that if you broke it, it would almost shatter your relationship, you perhaps like me would be like, "No, I'd rather not touch it. I just don't even want it. You just hold on to it. I'm good. I don't want to touch that which is priceless for fear that I might drop it." Well, as Christians, we have been given the priceless gospel, that which God dispenses His grace through, the speaking of the gospel, the speaking of the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. People are saved by the gospel. And you speak the gospel and you share the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a management issue. Every Christian has now, by default, inherited this ministry of reconciliation. You have a stewardship issue that you now hold as a Christian, which is sharing the gospel and making disciples. Flip to the right if you would and look in Colossians chapter 1, verse 25 with me. Colossians 1, 25, and think with me on the subject of stewardship. Colossians 1, 25.

Paul is not only talking to the Ephesian church about this stewardship issue, but also to the Colossian church about stewardship and how stewardship is given from God to Himself. And Colossians 1, 25, it says, "Of which I was made a minister." Did Paul decide to go into ministry?

No, he was made a minister. God placed this upon him. There was an oughtness inside of his soul. He ought to do this. And if he did not do this, he would feel like he was disobedient to the Lord. And so, "Of which," talking about the gospel, "I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God." So now you have a different perspective of the word stewardship here because God now, in His sovereign management and stewardship of His grace and gospel, now delegates it to us.

And now we have this stewardship issue. Read with me, "Of which I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God." That is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, "to whom God will to make known what is the richest of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

In Him we proclaim and admonish every man and teach every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man completing Christ, for which this purpose I also labor, striving according to His working, which works in me in power." And so Paul is energetically working to share the gospel, sacrificially working hard, laboring, bringing himself to the point of absolute exhaustion. And if you pour yourself out for Christ, he will just simply fill you right back up. You cannot outgive God in any way, shape, or form. And if you work hard, energia is the idea behind this, working out, and it's God's energy through you to share the gospel. And this is a stewardship issue because you have been given this power, you've been given this energy, you've been given this stewardship issue of sharing the gospel. And so now back in Ephesians, not only is it for Paul to steward this, but if you think about this idea through these translations and all these wonderful words, Paul is responsible to, according to the King James, dispense God's saving grace, to dispense it. He's dispensing that. And then as well in the NAS, the administrative, he is administrating the gospel to the Gentiles. And then as well stewarding, he stewards God's grace to the unsaved. And so God has, according to 1 Corinthians 917, entrusted the communication of the gospel to the Gentiles to Paul. So this is a trust issue as well. It's not just that you have something precious, but he, God, is trusting Paul to actually get the gospel out. And Paul said to the Corinthians, "I have a stewardship entrusted to me." 1 Corinthians 917. 1 Corinthians 917, he has a stewardship entrusted to him. And not only is it to him, but it's not for him to keep, it is for the Gentiles. In Ephesians 3, 1 and 2, "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you, Gentiles, if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God's grace, which was given to me for you." It's given to me for you. Paul got the gospel. He got saved. But it's not just to save him. The gospel doesn't stop with him. It goes through him to others. And so God's grace extended to Paul from God on the Damascus Road where he was saved, radically saved, Acts 9-5, is now to be continually flowing through him for you Gentiles. This is glorious. This is a ministry of reconciliation for those who are lost, who need to be saved by the grace of Christ. And we have the connecting dots in there to be able to help them do that. Now most preachers by God's design have not been entrusted with like a large estate. Follow my train of thought. They don't have a thousand acres in a mansion and a thousand cattle to oversee because that would take all of their time. Most preachers are not wealthy. I should say most true preachers are not wealthy.

They have been entrusted with something far greater than a mansion to pressure wash. They've been entrusted with something far greater than a thousand cattle to keep healthy. They've been entrusted something far greater than a fence line to make sure is up and ready and tight and right. They've been entrusted something far greater, which is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The two preachers for them to manage, to dispense, to administrate, to steward. This is truly a stewardship issue. In Ephesians chapter 3 verses 8 and 9 it says, "To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the infathomable riches of Christ to bring to light for all what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things." Paul in his state of absolute humility knows what he has done in the past and he considers himself as one who is least of all the saints. All true preachers are humble men of God who would say as well, "I can't believe God has entrusted to me something so precious. I wouldn't have trusted me with something so priceless, but God has seen fit to select and choose and entrust the gospel to a man like Paul." I want you to notice as well that Jesus revealed himself to Paul. Notice how the stewardship starts in verse 3. Ephesians 3, 3, "That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before to you." And so by revelation, this revelation means illumination. It means an uncovering, an unveiling, or an appearing. So Christ appeared to Paul and that's how he was personally made to be an apostle. Christ uncovered who Paul really was and Paul was able to see his sin in light of the holiness of God and see his need for Christ and he said, "Who are you?" And so Jesus appeared to Paul. Jesus revealed himself to Paul. This revelation is an unveiling and an unveiling helps us to understand that there is something shining behind the veil and when you remove the veil, the shining starts to shine. And so Paul was brought forth into the light of Christ and at this event he was saved. It actually stunned him. Paul was stunned and he said in Acts 9, 5, "Who are you, Lord?"

With a question mark.

So God saved Paul and God's sovereign grace, he dispensed salvation to Paul. And so this is a stewardship. He is giving now.

God managed his own saving grace to Paul.

In Psalm 135 verse 6, the Bible says, "Whatever the Lord pleases, he does."

"Has it pleased the Lord to save you? Praise his holy name because none of us deserved it."

In Acts chapter 9 verse 15, the Bible says, "He is a chosen instrument." Speaking of Paul, Paul was chosen to be an instrument of mine and he came with a lot. Matter of fact, turn to Acts chapter 9 with me. This comes with something that may surprise you.

Are you surprised by suffering in this life?

I don't know why, but every time I seem to be surprised and I remind myself that the trials of our faith are more precious than gold. In Acts chapter 9 verse 15, Acts 9, 15, "But the Lord said to him," speaking of Paul, "For he is a chosen instrument of mine, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him how much he must buy jets and mansions and eat sushi." I don't think so. "For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Now, by the way, we've spoken on suffering and enduring through hardships last week. Last week's sermon was on enduring and suffering faithfully. Paul is definitely one who would be one who suffered faithfully. According to the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, that is a strong evidence that you have been truly saved. When afflictions and turmoil come to your life, after you go through that faithfully, you can say, "I still love Jesus." The trial made you better not bitter. That's evidence of your salvation. The trial didn't make you distracted from Christianity, right? The trial didn't make you to where you got distracted with the things of this world. The trial didn't make you to where you are hard-hearted toward God. You've actually been given a new heart. Let me read to you as I unfold this idea of God saving grace and illuminating it to you. In Matthew 13, verses 18 and following is the parable of the sower and the seed. I just want to read it to you briefly. Here then is the parable of the sower. "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart." This is Matthew 13, verses 19 and following. "This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road, and the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places." This is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but is only temporary and when afflictions... Here this, guys. When affliction or persecution arises because of the word. Because this person is proclaiming to be a Christian, because of the word, immediately falls away.

Verse 22. "And the one whom the seed was sown among the thorns..." And this is the one who hears the word and the worry of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. "And the one on whom the seed was sown on the good soil..." This is the man who hears the word and understands it. "...who indeed bears fruit and brings it forth, and some a hundredfold, and some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold." And so there you have the parable of the sower to seed and only one seed is truly saved and it's the one who perseveres after afflictions. It's the one who bears fruit. And so for Paul, he was continuing to bear fruit in old age even while chained to a Roman in his own household prison atmosphere and he continued to be faithful. So glorious. And so we have suffering coupled with ministry and yet Jesus reveals himself to us and those who are truly saved continue in the word of God. I want you also to notice back in Ephesians this mystery mentioned in verse 3. Ephesians 3, 3 says that by revelation there was made known to me this mystery. Now in English, the word mystery doesn't give us the right idea. It conveys something that cannot be known. It's a mystery. But that's the English word mystery. But the Greek word mystery, the idea behind this word is a mystery that is a secret that can be known by the revelation of God.

You can know God's secrets that he chooses to reveal to you based upon his sovereign will. And so the biblical use of mystery refers to the secret thoughts and plans of God that are mysterious to human knowledge and to human reasons. It's very mysterious, but you can't understand based upon the enlightenment of God. And so God must make us to know him. God must make us to know him. This is sovereign grace. In Ephesians 2, 5 it says, "Even when you are dead in your transgressions, he made us alive in Christ." So he makes us alive. He takes us from the depths of not only our sin, but our hopelessness situation. He makes us alive and lifts us up. And so you can know this mystery, which is Christ himself, by the illuminating power of God. And so God must make himself known to us and in his wisdom in order for us to comprehend his mysteries, thus by revelation there was made known to Paul this mystery in verse 5.

In John chapter 1 verse 9, the Bible says, "The true light enlightens." Christ is the one who enlightens the true light.

Now it's very interesting here that it says, "As I wrote before." Read with me in verse 3 again, "That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery as I wrote before in brief." And you think to yourself, okay, so Paul wrote something before he wrote the book of Ephesians. Well sure, we don't have all the writings of Paul.

We have all of the inspired scripture that God preserved for it to be his infallible word, but there were other things that were written. So you ask yourself, well, what is this talking about? Well, the scripture doesn't say what he is referring to. It could be everything prior in this letter. So he's referring to everything that he's written thus far and he's building up to this. Or it could be the entire book of Colossians. This is fascinating. Turn with me, if you would, to Colossians chapter 4 and verse 16. I want you to see it for yourself that this, which Paul wrote, is intended to be circulatory among all of the believers. It's meant to be copied and passed around and read out loud and studied and rightly divided and applied to their life. In Colossians chapter 4 and verse 16, the Bible says, "And when this letter," okay, speaking of the Colossian letter, "When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans." And so now they have a stewardship issue at hand. They've been given the letter of Colossae, the Colossian letter, and now by God's divine design they have the gospel in their hands. And it's a matter of obedience. It's a ministry of reconciliation. They are ambassadors of Christ and they are to, on behalf of God, be faithful stewards and take the Colossian letter over to Laodicea, walk in the church and say, "Here's what the Lord says," and read this letter out loud. I mean, this is like us sharing the gospel out loud now. You have to get up out of your circumstances, go somewhere and share the gospel. You have to be faithful stewards of the gospel. You have to speak the gospel. You have to share with people the gospel. And by the way, do believers need to hear the gospel? Well, absolutely. We need to refine one another. We need to stir one another up with the gospel. We need to be like these early believers and be faithful in sharing the gospel. And so whether it was referring to this book of Colossians or whether it was referring to the book of Ephesians, they're sister books anyway, they're both prison epistles, so pick which one you want and dwell on it. Hope it helped you here. Now, all you need to do is be faithful with the gospel and say, "Am I being faithful like the apostle Paul is being faithful?"

In Ephesians chapter 3 verse 4, it says, "About which when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ." Okay, now Paul is presuming that they're going to be faithful and they're actually going to read this text and it's actually going to be being read. And he presumes upon them the clarity of Scripture. This wonderful doctrine makes it known that everyone whom Christ has born, who God has designed, who has ever existed, has the ability to understand, to perceive this word means, to comprehend, to heed. Verse 4, "About which when you read, you can understand." You can understand it. When you read the Bible, you can understand it. That's what the Bible is saying here. You can perceive and even heed. The Ephesians can perceive with their mind the mystery of Christ, that which has been hidden from prior generations, which whom they had to look forward to believe in the Messiah to come to be that sacrificial lamb, they can perceive that. And then you and I and every other Gentile or Jew, looking back on their cross, you can perceive this mystery of Christ. That you are a sinner in need of being saved. You can understand that you've broken God's moral law. You can understand that, that Christ is the solution. Sin is the problem and you got the problem and Christ is the solution. You need Jesus. And so 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 7 says, "Consider what I say for the Lord will give you understanding." The Lord will give you understanding. He will give it to you. So seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. If you seek God, He will give you understanding. Understanding is right there. Seek Him. Draw near unto the Lord and He will draw nigh unto you. James 4.8.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 15 verse 17, I love it. Do you love sarcasm?

He says this, "Do you not understand?"

I can add some emphasis to it, let someone here who just oozes with sarcasm say it again, do you not understand? I've been with you so long, 3 years. I've demonstrated to you that I'm the miracle maker. I have cast out demons. I'm the Savior. I'm telling you, do you not understand yet? Matthew chapter 15 verse 17. Do you not understand Matthew chapter 16 verse 9? How is it that you do not understand Matthew 16, 11?

Well skip forward a little bit to Romans chapter 1 verse 20. It gets a little bit more serious. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, that is His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly understood, clearly perceived, clearly known. And so all people know that God exists and they're accountable to that. And so the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture is in full view here and the central message is the Bible is clear and understandable and everyone is accountable. God's Word is understandable. His existence is understandable and can be properly interpreted. It can be properly known. And so this is a major cornerstone belief for Protestant evangelicals. Ever since the Bible was concealed by the Catholic Church for centuries and hundreds we have had the brave reformers by their intense suffering and many other dedicated Christians through their intense sufferings, not on sufferings but martyrdoms. They have brought the gospel into the light. They've translated the Word of God into the local languages. They have preached the gospel in the public square. They have proclaimed it at home. They've proclaimed it in their houses of worship. They've proclaimed it abroad. They've been all about the gospel. They haven't been distracted by wealth in this world. They haven't been distracted by the comforts that luxury can offer. They haven't been distracted by their selfishness. They have been selfless in pursuing this ministry of reconciliation. They've been faithful stewards. And look what it has produced. It's gospel coming all the way across the sea. And now we get to enjoy the product of what the gospel produces inside of humanity, which is rapidly slipping. They translated God's Word and by people reading the translations it brought understanding. And so reading brings understanding of Christ according to the passage here in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 4. But not only that, in verse 5, other generations were saved by faith. In verse 5, chapter 3, it says, "Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed by his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit." And so these other generations, they were saved like Abraham was saved. He was saved by faith. It was granted unto him and looking forward to the promises. In Genesis chapter 15 and verse 6, it was accredited unto him that he believed in Yahweh and he counted it unto him as righteousness. And so Abraham then not only was saved, but he continued to progress in his relationship with the Lord and became a friend of God. James 2, 23 says, "And Abraham's faith is normative for us." Okay, Romans 4, 16. Romans 4, 22, 25.

It makes Abraham as an example. And so we see that the faith of Abraham then made it into the Hall of Fame chapter of faith in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 8 to 19. And we see that as prior generations looked forward by faith to Christ, the Messiah to come, and as prophesied from Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 onward, all the way through the Scriptures, we also look back and so people are saved the same way. And if you want to continue to study this, I encourage you to do this because all the way through the Bible, it's all pointing to Jesus and this is fulfilled in Christ. In verse 6, the Gentiles are now fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise, all of the covenants, all the promises of God, all the way through the Bible pointing to its fulfillment in Christ. And so the same way as someone who was lost, a barbarian or a Scythian or a Roman, a Jew, an Egyptian, anybody there can look forward and be saved by faith. It's the same way as anybody today can be saved by faith. So the promise of Christ is through the gospel and it's all about the gospel for it's the power of the gospel and the salvation.

And now I'd like to give you two take-home truths as we look back on this passage. And by Jesus' authority, all Christians steward the gospel. Turn to Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 and 20 and let's just review the Great Commission because it's by God's divine design and His authority that we have this ministry of reconciliation, this stewardship of the gospel. Not only do we have it as something that's been given to us, but now beyond being given to you to handle and to manage and oversee, you've been given a commission, a mission to actually go. You are accountable to share the gospel. And so Matthew chapter 28 and verses 19 and 20 is the Great Commission. Let's start with verse 18, Matthew 28, 18, "And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." And so Jesus is the one who has all authority. In the Greek, this means the power of choice.

Jesus has the ultimate power of choice. And it's His choice then in verse 19 to commission Christians to go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to keep all that I command you and behold, I am with you always even until the end of the age.

Have you ever felt like you were perhaps not as close to the Lord as you once were?

Well, here is a solution to that distance that perhaps you sense between you and the Lord. You know you're saved, but you just don't feel close to God.

Well, there's a promise right here. I will be with you.

Go share the gospel and you will close that gap.

Go on mission. Do what you're supposed to do.

Share the gospel, make disciples and you watch because now all of that scripture that you have hidden in your heart for all these years, the Holy Spirit will draw that out of your heart and bring it to the forefront of your mind and enable you to share it and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit. You will regain the closeness to Christ that you're so longing for. If you've ever been a little bit farther away from the Lord than you wish you would, then go on mission. Intentionally share the gospel. So my take home truth that I want you to write down number one is you are accountable to share the gospel.

You are truly accountable to share the gospel. You not only have been given a stewardship issue here, but now you have to dispense this gospel. It's priceless for the ones who do not have it. You have already had the gospel save your soul. The payment of the cross has been applied to your sin debt. You're good. Your ledger is fine for eternity. But now it's a matter of stewardship. It's a matter of mystery of God through you. And you say to yourself, how do I do that? I don't know. Pick something and go do it.

Upload a YouTube video. It's real popular these days. Selfie it and then upload it. Share the gospel and push it around all that you possibly can. Give out gospel tracts. Do one-to-one evangelism. Open the Bible and read the gospel to someone. Give them a Bible. Write a personal letter. Write a personal letter to share the gospel. Share your heart. Some of you perhaps prefer to write it out or email it out rather than to speak it out and just get it to them. You see in the text here in Colossians chapter 4 that the expectation was for the letter to be read and understood. And so that is a very valuable means to get the gospel out. It's the reason why we write books and articles and blogs and email. Just do all that you possibly can. You can purpose within your heart tonight to share the gospel with five people. All you got to do is email, email, email, email. Even if it was a copy and paste.

Do all that you can. Mail them a book.

Street evangelism and preaching. Everywhere, anytime, all the time, be obedient and go. And so we are accountable to share the gospel. Take home truth number two is that all people get saved the same way.

All people, no matter their problems, get saved the same. So whether you have the Gentile problem in the text who are far away from the gospel, far away from the written word, logistically you're far away. You could be in Africa, be in the Netherlands, Europe, wherever. It's far away from Christ at that moment. Far away from Jerusalem. Far away from Colossae. Far away from these letters. You could even be in the middle of Ephesus and trapped in the temple of Diana, worshipping all the pagans and worshipping all the idols and worshipping all... You could be far away and yet the gospel is in the same city. You can be far away. Whether you got a Gentile problem or you got a Jewish problem right there, you could be in the middle of Jerusalem, worshipping at the temple and have a form of godliness and completely miss God. You could be Jewish who was anti-Christ and miss the gospel. Whether you have the Gentile problem and you're far away or you have a Jew problem, a Jewish problem and you're close to the gospel, you still have not ascertained Christ. You're still without Christ. Whether you have a Mormon problem, whether you have a Catholic problem, maybe you're a Masonic Lodge problem, a Jehovah's Witness problem, a Buddhist problem, a Hindu voodoo problem, whatever the problem is, it's all the same. It's either in Christ or not in Christ. It's all the same. So people get saved the same way. Whether you're a pagan, which is popular today, whether you're prideful, which is all of mankind's problem, or whether you're just simply unknowledgeable. Hosea 4.6 says, "For lack of knowledge, my people are destroyed." And in the southeast, known as the Bible Belt, that is one of the biggest issues, a form of godliness. And they do not truly know Jesus. They do not know the risen Savior. They've grown up in church. They think they're a church because they go to... They think they're a Christian because they go to the church. Like Foti Baucom says, "You got to get them unsaved before you can get them saved." We need to be able to share the gospel and realize that no matter if someone is trapped in a life of drunkenness, trapped in a life of apostasy, trapped in a life of debauchery, adultery, strip clubs, no matter if they're one of these beautiful little innocent girls or children or boys within our church, it's the same problem.

If they are not saved, they're without Christ. And it's the power of the gospel and to salvation, all who would repent and believe the gospel. And so we need to be those who are faithfully, regularly dispensing the gospel over and over and over again. May you say to one of your friends today, "Can I practice on you?" And you tell me what was comprehensible or was not... You couldn't comprehend or where I was lagging. Share the gospel with you. And as you get better and better at sharing the gospel, as you actually are speaking it out and saying it, you get used to it, and then you have more confidence when you're around someone you know you should share the gospel. Now you've trained yourself, you've worked your way into being able to do that. They say smart people talk to themselves. And so practice sharing the gospel and get it out. I personally have just simply thought of sharing the gospel chronologically. So I start in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, and I explain that it is God who created the heavens and the earth. If I can remember Genesis 1.1, so you can get your motor running a little bit and share that the God whom I'm talking about is the God of the Bible. He created the heavens and the earth. And in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, we see a promise, we see a prophecy here. And we're going to get a little bit more detailed as we go through the Bible. Follow my train of thought here. And we move from Genesis to Noah, the big boat, you know. God sent his wrath and he drowned everything that was of sin, and he saved Noah and his family, the righteous ones, and then started over again. Moses gave us the law so that we could see, okay, that we were sinners in need of a Savior. He didn't give us the law to live up to the law. He gave us the law so that we could know that we don't measure up. And so from Genesis now to, from Abraham and Genesis now to Moses. Now I'm going to skip over to the prophets and say the prophets predicted Christ to come. Maybe you can quote Mike at chapter 5 verse 3 and say the virgin birth of Christ or out of, you know, Egypt or born Nazarene or growing up in Nazarene, born in Bethlehem, all these prophecies point to Christ and they don't get the life of Christ and the death and barrel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I've moved now to the Gospels and I'm going to move on to judgment. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27, it's appointed unto man wants to die and then the judgment. And so I just simply walk people through in my mind the Bible and share the gospel. And one of these days we're going to be face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you were to die today, would you go to heaven or hell? And oftentimes it ends up pretty good to be able to share the clarity of that and you take your time with folks. And so however you want to share the gospel, you have a stewardship issue before God, an individual, each one of you to figure out your little niche on how you do that. Maybe you have a bold personality and you're ready to go street preaching. Maybe you have a private personality to rather start emailing. I'm saying to you, no matter where you are, it's a stewardship issue to share the gospel. Not everybody is called to be a nationwide evangelist. Okay, so don't feel like a blanket of guilt, but just get your motor run into where you are faithful with the saving grace of God. It is a stewardship issue.

Paul said that by revelation is made known. He said in verse two, if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God's grace. Isn't that amazing? The stewardship of God's grace. His grace has been stewarded to Paul and now he is a steward, a steward of the grace, the saving grace of God. And you're saved by grace through faith. And so who then is God able to save?

As you're willing to share the gospel now and you view all of humanity, who then is God able to save? If Paul's ministry was for the immoral pagan Gentiles, doesn't get much worse than going to the temple of Diana. If you've ever looked at that idol before, you probably, "Ugh, I'll never click on that again."

Does it get any worse than that?

Temple prostitution.

Does it get any worse? If Paul was called to pagan Gentiles and God is able to save,

then God can save the pagan Gentiles today.

Share the gospel and make disciples. Let's pray.

Father, thank you, Father, for the gospel that you've entrusted into us. It seems too precious for us to hold and to manage and to oversee, but it's by your sovereign design that you have commissioned us to go, therefore, into all the nations and make disciples. Help us, dear Jesus, to be faithful, to share the gospel with the little liar that seems so innocent or the rebellious young person who is far away from God. Maybe they're a good kid or a great teen. It doesn't matter if they're not in Christ. Help us, dear Jesus, to share the gospel with all the young adults that we possibly can get a hold of and reach out to. The old adults, dear God, help us to share the gospel with them. Father, I pray that you would help us to reach out to those who are especially far from you. You say in your word in 1 Corinthians 5.1 that it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you. And then as the letter continues, these glorious words in chapter 6, 1 Corinthians 6, 11, and such were some of you.

But you were washed, but you were sanctified,

and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God. God, I pray that you would see fit to lead us to be faithful stewards in that the sexual immoral people, the idolaters, the adulterers, the effeminate, the homosexuals, the thieves, the greedy, the drunkards, the revilers, the swindlers, would be saved, gloriously saved here through the preaching and the teaching and the evangelism at Bula Baptist Church. Make us faithful, dear God. You've made us alive. You've saved us and you're sanctifying us by your holy word. Now make us so alive that we must share the gospel, that we can't sit back and be comfortable. We have to move forward, dear God. God, I pray that you would help us not only to care for our own and our little innocent ones, but also, Lord, to go to the uttermost, to go to the nations, to go in such a way that we're living on fire for you. And we're not dim lights, Lord. We're bright lights. We are on fire for the gospel. God, I plead that you would help us to understand that we have been given a priceless stewardship issue here, the gospel, the fact that you sent your sinless son to die on the cross and to pay for our sin. I pray, God, you help us to comprehend that and to inwardly be so, so dissatisfied with contentment. Help us to have an essence of holy discontentment in regards to stewarding the gospel. Help us, dear God, to proclaim it boldly and loudly and clearly. Help us to ask for time from people to sit down and look through your word and to comb through the gospel. Help us, dear Jesus. Give us boldness, we pray. It's in Jesus' name that we say these things and ask them. Amen.