Here is this week’s outline & verses in a downloadable PDF format.
2020 Summer Truth Pursuit Week 14
Spend some time this morning to open up to the Lord in prayer regarding what He touched you with during the previous six days. Review your notes and the outline points and verses. Ask the Lord what He would have you share with all the saints. Prepare a prophecy (1-2 minutes long) to share with the saints what you enjoyed this week.
Message 14: Preaching the Gospel
Scripture Reading: Matt.25:14–30; 1 Cor. 3:10–15; 2 Cor. 5:10; John 4:35–38; Matt. 28:19; Luke 16:27–28; 1 Cor. 9:16–17; Acts 16:9; Rom. 1:14; Acts 1:8
I. Our talent is the seed for sowing and the possessions for scattering; therefore, we need to reap where the Lord has not sown and gather where He has not scattered—Matt. 25:24–27; John 4:35–38
Matthew 25:24–27 Then he who had received the one talent also came and said, Master, I knew about you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow. 25 And I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the earth; behold, you have what is yours. 26 And his master answered and said to him, Evil and slothful slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not winnow. 27 Therefore you should have deposited my money with the money changers; and when I came, I would have recovered what is mine with interest.
John 4:35–37 Do you not say that there are yet four months and then the harvest comes? Behold, I tell you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are already white for harvest. 36 He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal life, in order that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true, One sows and another reaps. 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.
A. When we preach the gospel to people, we are sowing the seed of the Lord’s gospel into the field of their hearts; when the seed of the gospel grows in their hearts, it can be harvested—John 4:35–38
B. Sometimes others sow and we reap and sometimes we sow and others reap; the seed of the gospel, which was sown into them through a tract, may be reaped and brought in by us years later
C. Therefore, we should preach the gospel whenever we meet people and sow the seed of the gospel into their hearts so that there will be a harvest in due time
II. Depositing the silver with the bankers signifies using the Lord’s gift to lead others to salvation and to minister His riches to them; interest signifies the profitable result we gain for the Lord’s work by using His gift—Matt. 25:27; Luke 19:23
Matthew 25:27 Therefore you should have deposited my money with the money changers; and when I came, I would have recovered what is mine with interest.
Luke 19:23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and when I came, I would have collected it with interest?
Matthew 24:45 Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time?
A. We have to contact the bankers and deposit our talent with them—Matt. 25:27; 24:45
B. The bankers are the very sinners whom we are going to visit; we need to deposit our talent with these bankers, and then we will receive some interest—Matt. 25:27
III. The call to preach the gospel and save people comes from four directions
A. The first call comes from above, from the heavens; it is according to the Lord’s command, which He spoke immediately before His ascension; from the day of His ascension, His call from above has never ceased—Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:19; cf. Rom 10:14
Mark 16:15 And He said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all the creation.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe into Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who proclaims Him?
B. The second call comes from the cry of the rich man who was suffering in the flames of Hades—Luke 16:27–28
Luke 16:27–28 And he said, Then I ask you, Father, to send him to the house of my father — For I have five brothers — so that he may solemnly testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.
1. His cry indicates that there must be many in Hades who have a desire that their relatives on earth would hear the gospel and be saved in order to escape the suffering of perdition—Luke 16:27–28
2. We should be moved by these pitiful cries and go to the living, who still have a chance to repent, to preach the gospel that can save them from eternal perdition
C. The third direction from which a call for the gospel comes is an inward call, an irresistible call, an urgent, inward sense of responsibility—1 Cor. 9:16–17
1 Corinthians 9:16–17 For if I preach the gospel, I have no boast, for necessity is laid upon me; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. 17 If I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a stewardship.
1. When we receive His salvation, we also receive His commission and spontaneously feel a spiritual responsibility
2. This stewardship is in our innermost heart, and through the moving of the Holy Spirit, it becomes a burden, a pressing voice, that compels us to preach the gospel
D. The fourth direction from which a call for the gospel comes is from people, and it speaks of the desperate need of those around us; today these kinds of Macedonian calls are numerous and pressing—Acts 16:9
Acts 16:9 And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: A certain man, a Macedonian, was standing and entreating him and saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us.
1. Regrettably, we often ignore them or do not even hear them, because we do not have a strong desire to reach others with the gospel, and our sense is quite dull
2. We should ask the Lord to operate and increase our desire so that our inward sense can be sharpened, and we would feel the desperate need of people for the gospel
IV. According to the Bible, there are five expressions related to preaching the gospel: witnessing, leading people to the Lord, sowing, reaping, and paying a debt—Acts 1:8; John 1:40–42, 4:36–37; Matt. 9:37–38; Rom. 1:14
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
John 1:40–42 One of the two who heard this from John and followed Him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah (which translated means Christ). 42 He led him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter).
John 4:36–37 He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal life, in order that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true, One sows and another reaps.
Matthew 9:37–38 Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is great, but the workers few; 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust out workers into His harvest.
Romans 1:14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to foolish.