1.     The word “gospel” literally means “good news.”

2.     The word “gospel” appears 101 times in the King James Bible.

3.     The first time we see the word “gospel” is in Matthew 4:23, where we read, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

4.     The last reference to the Gospel is found in Revelation 14:6, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”

5.     Apparently an angel will preach the Gospel during the tribulation period.  Consider then what a privilege it is for you and me to proclaim it today.  Our Lord said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (cf. Mark 16:15, 16).

6.     Notice that the Scriptures always refer to the Gospel being preached.  The apostle Paul said, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel” (Romans 15:20).  In I Cor. 9:16, he said, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”

7.     And to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote, “I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord” (II Cor. 2:12).

8.     And in Acts 16:10, Paul said, “immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.”

9.     In Romans 1:15, Paul writes, “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.”

10. To the church at Corinth, Paul wrote, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (I Cor. 1:17).

11. The word “gospel” is a familiar word but like many other Bible words it is often misused and misunderstood.

12. The best definition of the Gospel is found in I Cor. 15:1-4.

I. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL (MARK 16:15, 16).

1.     Let me start right off by saying that the Gospel should be proclaimed by all Christians, not just pastors or evangelists or missionaries, etc.

2.     For example, women should not serve as pastors but they can certainly proclaim the Gospel and win souls (cf. John 4:28-30, 39-42).  Some of the best soulwinners are women.

3.     These days, many churches are avoiding Bible doctrine.  This is a big mistake because the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is a doctrinal message.

4.     The message we proclaim is called “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).  How can we proclaim the “gospel of grace,” unless we teach the doctrine of grace?

5.     We must be careful to emphasize that salvation in all of its aspects is on the basis of grace rather than on some meritorious system of works (Eph. 2:8, 9; Rom. 11:6).

6.     The Gospel is referred to as “the gospel of peace” in Ephesians 6:15.  In these difficult days of unending war and barbaric terrorism, many people are crying out for peace.  The Gospel is a message of peace. 

7.     Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

8.     This means that the good news of salvation in Christ brings peace in all its many aspects – peace with God and peace with others, and even eventually world peace when the Prince of Peace returns to earth.

9.     That is why the angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

10. This is the message we proclaim – that Christ died on the cross to save sinners from hell.  This is what is behind the doctrine of reconciliation (cf. II Cor. 5:17-21).

11. But while we proclaim the true Gospel that leads to heaven, we must also warn people about false gospels, which lead to hell (Gal. 1:6-9).

12. People talk of a social gospel but there is no “social gospel.”  Our business is to preach the same Gospel that the apostles preached.  They certainly did not preach any so-called “social gospel.”

13. The social gospel was dead and now Rick Warren and a few other worldly preachers are trying to revive it.  We must be careful to warn people that there is a true Gospel and there is a false gospel.

14. There is power in the true gospel (Rom. 1:15, 16; I Cor. 1:18).  Many people mistakenly believe that they must alter or modify the Gospel to attract people. Or they feel they have to replace the Gospel with worldly entertainment.  This is unfortunate because sinners are not saved by entertainment (cf. I Thess. 1:5, 9, 10; 2:13).

15. Spurgeon used to say, “God called me to feed His sheep, not to amuse the goats!”  The great preacher said over 100 years ago, “The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.”

16. Sinners are not saved by rock music or drama or other forms of worldly entertainment. They are only saved by the true Gospel (I Cor. 15:1, 2).

17. The Gospel is a powerful proclamation, and it is also an invitation.

II. THE GOSPEL IS ALSO AN INVITATION (REV. 22:17).

1.     We find this gracious invitation all throughout the Word of God (cf. Isaiah 1:18).

2.     The Gospel invitation is gracious – “Come now…”

3.     The Gospel invitation is reasonable – “Come now, and let us reason together…”

4.     The Gospel invitation presupposes man’s sin and guilt – “though your sins be as scarlet.”

5.     The Gospel invitation provides a full pardon – “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”

6.     Those of us that are saved have a responsibility to go out and proclaim this Gospel invitation to sinners far and wide.  Notice in Revelation 22:17, it says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.”

7.     We are to go out into the highways and hedges and compel sinners to come to Christ (cf. Luke 14:16-24).  Some people criticize aggressive soulwinning.   Just yesterday a so-called “bishop” chided two of our members for knocking on doors.

8.     The Bible teaches evangelism and soulwinning, and this means going out and talking to people about the Lord.

9.     Jesus said, “Go out into the highways and hedges” (Luke 14:23).

10. Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19).

11. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

12. “Go” means “Go.”  We must get up and go!

13. And while we are offering this gracious invitation of salvation, we must be careful that sinners are willing to repent of their sins.  In Luke 24:47, our Lord said to His disciples, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

14. A friend of mine preached a message against adultery in a popular church not far from here.  After the meeting he was surrounded by angry church members, who threatened him and railed on him.

15. Do you think these adulterers and fornicators were saved?

16. I was out soulwinning one time with a fellow who took a JW woman down “the Romans Road” and got her to say a little prayer with him.  After they prayed, he assured her she was now gloriously saved.

17. Here is a great illustration from the late evangelist James Stewart:

We must be careful in our invitations not to offer peace and rest to those who are not ready to meet the conditions laid down by the Price of Peace. The finest illustration of this truth is brought out by John Bunyan, in his book The Holy War, concerning the siege of Mansoul. As you know, the town of Mansoul depicts the individual soul of man. And this soul is being besieged by the evangelistic efforts of the Lord's people, under the leadership of Boanerges, or the apostle John. Boanerges and his captains are calling on the town to surrender in the name of their King El Shaddai. If they will lay down their arms and surrender to the king, no harm will come to them; in fact, all will be well with them. These attacks from the captains were making things so hot for the town of Mansoul that the leaders decided on a truce with Boanerges and his captains. Lord Wilbewill was the spokesman for the town, and he approached the captains with these words, "We will accept your invitation to surrender to your king upon the following conditions:

1. That none of those who now serve the town under the great giant, Diabolis, will be put out of the town, or that their freedom will be taken from them.
2. That the citizens of Mansoul shall be allowed to carry on all the pleasures and enjoyments which they had known under their king Diabolis.
3. That no new law, officer, or executioner of law shall have any power over them without their choice or consent.

We may be sure that such terms as those presented by Lord Wilbewill were categorically rejected by Boanerges and his captains.

The lesson here taught by the old Puritan evangelist John Bunyan is that the soul-winner must be careful never to offer reconciliation and peace to those who wish to continue in defiance of God's way of holiness.

III. THE GOSPEL IS ALSO A COMMAND (ACTS 17:30).

1.     Christians are commanded to go out and proclaim the Gospel, and sinners are commanded to believe it.

2.     Again I will quote Evangelist James Stewart, “There are those who would be saved in our meetings from the consequences of their sin, who do not want to be saved from the love of it.”

3.     Stewart quoted Spurgeon, who warned his ministerial students, “If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord's will, but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved.  Do you imagine that the gospel is magnified, or God glorified by going to the worldings and telling them that they may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their Saviour, while they are wedded to their idols and their hearts are still in love with sin?  If I do so, I tell them a lie, pervert the gospel, insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness.”

4.     Unsaved friend: Now that you have heard the truth of the Gospel, you have a responsibility to believe it.  If you choose to reject the Gospel you are inviting the judgment of God (cf. II Thess. 1:7-9).

CONCLUSION:

1.     Have you ever wondered why so few people (even in “Christian” America) seem to have any interest in the Gospel? 

2.     The Gospel is hid to lost sinners because Satan has blinded their minds (II Cor. 4:3, 4).

3.     We must go out in the power of the Holy Spirit and proclaim the Gospel to sinners because nothing else can help them.