WISELY
AND WINSOMELY PROCLAIM TRUTH
BREAD
7 How
beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who
proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to
Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7
(NIV)
14 How,
then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they
believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is
written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)
5 Be
wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be
always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer
everyone. Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV)
2 Preach
the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and
encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when
men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn
aside to myths. 5 But
you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an
evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:2-5 (NIV)
19 Though
I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as
many as possible. 20 To the
Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like
one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those
under the law. 21 To
those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not
free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having
the law. 22 To the
weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so
that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of
the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race
all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get
the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:19-24 (NIV)
15 But in
your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak
maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their
slander. 17 It is
better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:15-17 (NIV)
15 Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am
still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within
them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for
they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My
prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them
from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world,
even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth;
your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world,
I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself,
that they too may be truly sanctified.” John
17:13-19 (NIV)
9 How
can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not
sin against you. 12 Praise
be to you, O Lord; teach me your
decrees. 13 With
my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your
statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I
will not neglect your word. Psalms
119:9-16 (NIV)
165 Great
peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. Psalms 119:165 (NIV)
BUTTER
“We
need a generation of Christians who have troubled spirits and the willingness
to engage a conflicted culture with the proclamation of truth despite the range
of responses they will see.” Mark L.
Bailey
“Apologetics
can be thought of as having two components.
On the one hand it concerns the countering of objections to the Christian
faith, and on the other it concerns setting out the attractiveness of the
gospel. It thus has a negative and a
positive aspect. Negatively it means
being able to handle objections to Christianity which one encounters in the
media, the shopping mall, and elsewhere.
It means being able to give effective responses to hard questions people
ask about Christianity. Sometimes those
objections are spurious; sometime they are real problems, which discourage those
individuals from coming to a living faith in Christ. Trained Christians can make a difference
here, by helping them see that the problem is not as serious as they may have
thought. Positively, apologetics is
setting out the full wonder of the gospel of salvation. It is like unpacking a series of wonderful
gifts, and marveling at their beauty.
Helping people understand the full glory of what the gospel offers often
means taking the trouble to explain central Christian ideas to people who may
recognize the words but not the reality they represent. Words such as ‘grace’ and ‘redemption’ come
easily from Christian workers’ lips, but believers need to explain what they mean
and what they offer to an increasingly unchurched culture.” Alister McGrath, British Theologian
“Carrying God's gracious offer involves
human beings whom God has brought to Himself and then uses as His heralds. They
share God's message of salvation because He will save everyone who calls on His
name.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“Never before has any civilization openly
made available to its populace such a smorgasbord of realities. Never before has a communications system like
the contemporary mass media made information about religion – all religions –
available to so many people. Never
before has a society allowed its people to become consumers of belief, and
allowed belief – all beliefs – to become merchandise.” Journalist Walter Truett Anderson
“The
loss of God’s centrality in the life of today’s church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform
worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into
technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into
being successful. As a result, God,
Christ and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially
upon us.” The Cambridge Declaration
“In an age bereft of courageous leadership, declining biblical
literacy, and rising cultural accommodation, a faithful voice from the gospel
center is needed- a voice that prophetically speaks the ancient text to our
contemporary context.” The National Gospel Coalition
“We
live in a conflicted culture. But we
should not turn tail and run. And we
should not bury our head in the sand.
Christianity is a confrontational faith.
It challenges human nature, it challenges sin, and it challenges what
one believes about the future. As a result,
our culture hates Christianity. In the
face of hatred and scorn, we need to do what Paul did: wisely and winsomely proclaim the truth.” Mark L.
Bailey
“He
(Paul) must confront men with the truth about God – Creator, Provider, Lord of
history, Judge of all – and His command to repent. He must confront them with the truth about
man, and his moral bankruptcy in the sight of God. And above all he must confront them with
Jesus Christ in His resurrection power, His authority to execute judgment, and
His redeeming love by which He delivers men and women from their estrangement
and rebellion, and creates them anew in the knowledge of their creator.” F. F. Bruce
“Let us note how far from satisfactory is the
state of those who are content with sound doctrinal opinions, and orthodox
correct views of the Gospel, while in their daily life they give way to
ill-temper, ill-nature, malice, envy, quarrelling, squabbling, bickering,
surliness, passion, snappish language, and crossness of word and manner. Such persons, whether they know it or not,
are daily proclaiming that they are not Christ’s disciples. It is nonsense to talk about justification,
and regeneration, and election, and conversion, and the uselessness of works,
unless people can see in us practical Christian love.” John Charles Ryle
“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and
forever I am. Redeemed,
and so happy in Jesus, No language my rapture can tell; I know that the light
of His presence With me doth continually dwell. I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long: I sing,
for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song. I know I shall see in His beauty The King in
whose law I delight; Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, And giveth me songs in
the night. I know there’s a crown that is waiting In yonder bright mansion for
me, And soon, with the spirits made perfect, At home with the Lord I shall be.” Frances J. Crosby
“So let me encourage you to make the most of every
opportunity to share this Good News… Our
Christian testimony, as Peter reminded his readers, is that, ‘we have been born
again to a living hope through
the resurrection of the dead’. Who else has the answer to the
frailty of life, the reality of death and the certainty of judgment than Jesus,
who by His death destroyed him who holds the power of death and frees those
whose lives are enslaved by the fear of death?” Alistair
Begg
HEART
SAVOR
- · The gospel is very good news and it is meant to be shared both wisely and winsomely. “It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man.” John Witherspoon.
- · God’s Word is Truth and I am to know it. It is Truth that sets me free. 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (NIV)
- · I am to be wise in the way I live, making the most of every opportunity – for His glory and my good.
