Christian Support and Advice

There are many biblical exhortations to preach the Gospel. The believer is urged to go "into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15). The Gospel, for many, is the first point of contact with Our Lord. It offers the opportunity to hear the message of Christ and as every believer understands, "he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life." (John 5:24)
This is a message that must be propagated via the preaching of the Gospel. I would assert that the Gospel has two main functions when preached to the disbeliever. These disbelievers can be categorised in two groups, the 'arrogant' disbeliever who feels that they have all the answers, and the wavering disbeliever who feels the presence of God but does not understand how to channel that forming faith.

For the first of the two groups the Gospel is a palpable object that forces them to confront their disbelief. When they are demonstrated with Jesus' unbounded love they may reassess their dismissal of Him. They will perhaps understand that the Gospel anticipates their desire to place man above God and that "whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 10:32-33) The Gospel becomes the undeniable fact of the Good News.

For the second group hearing the Gospel may confirm the presence of God within them and all around them. They may not have known which direction their burgeoning faith should take them. In this case the preaching of the Gospel will open their eyes to the understanding that redemption is possible, that Christ died for our sins and that they can share in His glory.

The Gospel is, of course, completely fundamental to the true and solid believer as well. It must be preached and reheard in order to reconfirm Christ's message. When the Gospel is met again it allows the believer to remember the joy they felt when they first met Christ. The Gospel also offers a necessary guideline to the true believer. It is a template to those who would wish to follow Christ, and it can be turned to for support in times of need.

The Gospel must be placed at the forefront of our religious thinking. Ultimately Christ can be found within the heart, but one must turn to the Gospel to fully understand His message and His relevance to our lives. Christ lives today and we can all witness this by looking inside ourselves, but the Gospel offers us a pressing reminder of the necessity of praising His name. When the Gospel is preached, those that hear it can "know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." (John 4:42) Hearing this offers one hope and that is a gift that should not be denied to anyone.

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