Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Max Lucado
The Power in the Gospel
When we share the gospel with the lost, we might be concerned about whether someone receives it or not but we must trust the seed of the Word of God because only God gives the increase, adding to the church (Acts 2:47). The only thing we need to do is proclaim it and not be ashamed of it because as the Apostle Paul writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). Did you catch that? The gospel is the power of God for salvation, not us. Trust God and sow His Word; then leave the results up to the Lord of the Harvest.
The Power of the Spirit
When Jesus was about to ascend back to heaven and return to the Father, He told the disciples “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Act 1:8). Now we’ve got the power of God in the gospel message (Rom 1:16) and the power of the Holy Spirit. We can’t do this alone; we need God’s Spirit to empower us to preach the gospel. He has already given us the authority (Matt 28:19-20), now we just have to act on it.
The Power of the Preaching
There is the power of God in the gospel, there is the power of the Spirit of God, and now, there is the power of the preaching. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 1:18 that “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” How true that the world sees Jesus dying for sinners as foolishness but for those who are being saved, it is the very power of God. We have no power except by His Spirit, by preaching about the cross, and by the gospel itself which comes with God’s power, so now, all we need do is to preach it!
Conclusion
Max Lucado said “The purpose of the Bible is simply to proclaim God’s plan to save His children” and that it’s simple enough for a child to be saved but for the intellectual’s or “big brains” of the world, it seems utterly ridiculous. All we need to do is preach it, teach it, and do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. Only the Lord of Harvest is the One Who is responsible for the harvesting of souls.
