This same gospel! 

This same message! 

This same word of reconciliation was first committed to the early disciples, men who were committed to the message, men who understood the necessity of evangelism, discipleship, and teaching through the years. Because of them and the many faithful men that came after them, the gospel message didn’t become obsolete. The global spread of the message came about due to the deliberate efforts of such men not just in telling people about Jesus but in raising others to do the same.

The early disciples are no longer alive yet due to their commitment to training men to carry on the work, there was a rapid expansion of the kingdom here on earth.

Think back to the time that you first heard the gospel, it wasn’t just a ‘good idea’ that you picked up from somewhere or one that just dropped in your mind out of thin air, someone had to preach it to you.

God’s will is for all men to be saved, but as much as God wants this, He will not come down from heaven to do it, he committed the earth to the children of men ergo you and I. 

I Timothy 2:3-4

New King James Version

3 For this is  good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth

Thus, the responsibility falls on us to continue the work started by the apostles, and passed on over the years, for the continued prosperity of the gospel. Because, if no one preaches the gospel then how will it spread? How will everyone hear this message to get saved?

‭Romans 10:14

New King James Version

14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

When people see a funny video on social media, most times their first instinct is to share it with someone else, or even when people receive exciting news that can help or save someone, they don’t hoard it rather they are eager to tell the person. So, how much more the good news that can save someone from eternal damnation?

Effective communication of the gospel begins with you helping people realize their need for salvation but it doesn’t stop there. As important as telling someone about the gospel is, follow-up is equally as important.

Success in sharing the gospel isn’t only marked by how well you tell it or sow the seed but also by how well you can nurture that seed.

Imagine owning a farm where you’ve planted different seeds and left them without nurturing them or even going back to check on them. Their chance of survival is greatly reduced because they are left exposed to the different factors in nature with no control.

The end goal is to make disciples. Remember! This message of reconciliation has to be committed to other faithful men, who would communicate it to others. This is how it was designed to be transmitted, from man to man.

‭Matthew 28:18-20

New King James Version

‬18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Jesus, just before His ascension, in what is popularly known as the great commission, instructs His disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all nations.

‘Making disciples’ goes beyond preaching the gospel, it involves a training, making a learner or a student of those we preach to.

Jesus started the church, He had made disciples of men, He trained and taught them but He was about to leave so He went ahead and gave them a structure for how the church and the gospel will continue to move forward in His absence (bodily). He gave them a template to replicate.

His instruction was not just to go into the world and gather a community of people who just identified with Him but people who were also discipled in the ways and traditions of the church of Christ. His instruction was to make students of the word, people trained and developed in the truth of scriptures and the lifestyle required, and people who will become preachers of the word.

Throughout the scriptures, we see a pattern of discipleship right from the Old Testament up until the early Church. The apostles were all teachers of the word, they committed their time to taking the gospel around the world and making disciples of men.

‭I Timothy 1:2

New King James Version

‬2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. ‭‭

Philemon 1:10

New King James Version

‬10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,

We see the example of Apostle Paul who discipled Timothy, Onesimus, Philemon, Titus and many other believers. 

‭II Timothy 2:2

New King James Version

‬2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Apostle Paul, in his writings to Timothy, admonishes him to commit the teachings he had received from him to faithful men who would also pass it to other faithful men.

For the right doctrine to be passed down and preserved, you have to first of all be a good disciple or student, you have to be committed to your growth. And then as a good disciple, you have to give yourself to the training and equipping of other men.

‘This same gospel that has been passed down to us, must be preserved and spread around the world. This is not reserved for just pastors as we’ve all been given the ministry of reconciliation.

God’s instruction is to make disciples. This is God’s structure for the spread of the gospel. Hence, your responsibility doesn’t stop at preaching the gospel to people, it also involves you following up on them and discipling them.

Prayer Point

Father, I thank you for the message of the gospel. I am not ashamed of it because of its power to save. I give myself to train and equip other men for the spread of this gospel.