Preaching The Gospel

“I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome.”  Romans 1:15 KJV

      Paul desired to go to Rome.  He wrote to the Romans, “I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.” (1:11, 12)  Then, in verse 13, “I purposed to come to you, that I might have some fruit among you also.”  Paul wanted to confirm that the church in Rome was established, and he wanted to lead more to faith through Jesus Christ.  This is accomplished through preaching.  Paul was ready to preach the gospel.

      I can imagine Paul’s passion to want to preach.  There is no doubt that he wanted to preach the gospel to the whole world.  His words in chapter 1 of Romans give the vision of a preacher who wanted to preach to reach the multitudes.  I’ve seen this kind of passion to win souls.  I was blessed to see this in the men at Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Newton, Mississippi between 2002 and 2006.  When they preached, they preached the gospel.  My dear Kevin and I were blessed to hear these sermons and to see lives change.  Those sermons touched my dear Kevin and changed him.  There was a lot of growth with men standing up and serving in the community sharing the gospel.  Yes, I can imagine Paul’s passion to preach and bear more fruit for the harvest of the Kingdom of Heaven.

     Only to see more young men and women who will say, “As much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel.”  Also, we need more of us who will stand up and say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:15-17)

    Yes, the gospel of Christ is the “power of God unto salvation.”  The way of salvation needs to be shared and shared from the gospel, not from the ways of the world.  Through the word of God we see the character of God and his righteousness.  In my life time, I’ve seen men change from drug addicts to faithful servants.  I’ve seen men and women change from being self- absorbed to Christ centered and serving others.  There is great power in the gospel; it takes a step of faith to believe and follow.  Paul experienced this power on the road to Damascus, and his mission changed from hate and destruction to “making some fruit” through preaching the gospel to the world.