Spreading the Gospel or Sounding Out the Word

Spreading the Gospel or Sounding Out the Word SPREADING THE GOSPEL OR SOUNDING OUT THE WORD
W. S. LONG

“For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to Godward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.” (1 Thessalonians 1:8). My Beloved Brethren: From my youth this has been a very interesting subject and I have often spoken of the marvelous success of the Church in the days of the apostles. Time is well spent on the question: “Why was the early Church so successful?” It has challenged the interest of the most brilliant minds and the most gifted thinker of the past.

Let us picture the scene of Jesus’ farewell words on the Mount of Olive, and then see these eleven men turn their faces toward Jerusalem, where the heartless rulers had six weeks before crucified their Lord. See them encounter a cruel world, made up on the one hand of Romans who were then preparing to destroy Jerusalem and put to death thousands of Christians, and on the other hand the bitterness of the Jews who in blindness to their own good, would do their best to stamp out of existence the very name of Jesus.

What hopes had they (humanly speaking) of success? What prestige to open the door to proclaim the Glorious Gospel? They had no degrees, no money, no colleges, no church buildings, no orphanages, no publications, no men in power to advocate their cause before the Rulers. Yet, they begin in the City of Jerusalem with only a handfull of men and women—not a Church anywhere else in all the wide, wide world. Favor was granted for only a few years and then they soon became so unpopular that their own people began a severe persecution and were joined by pagan rulers, and it grew so cruel that it meant death to be known as a Christian. Such a name was odious, and the followers of Jesus were counted as scum of the earth—“the offscouring of Creation.” Viewing this Church from a human standpoint it would be of short duration, and pass away with the death of its first leaders; yet, in the face of this persecution God lead them from victory to victory until we hear the Glorious message spoken by Paul to the Church at Colossae: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which was preached to every creature which is under heaven: wherof, I, Paul, am made a minister.” (Colossians 1:23). He further says, that the gospel which had come to them as it had in all the world. From these statements we learn that in this short time, less than 100 years, the gospel had gone into all parts of the known world.

1. The First Three Decades: It is an old, old story, yet an interesting one to follow the spread of the gospel from the one little band in Jerusalem till it reached all the known world. When the dark clouds of persecution fell upon them, and blow after blow took many of their best members, it looked as though they were soon to be blotted from the earth. The apostles were whipped, threatened, cast into prison; Stephen was martyred as a warning to any one who would mention the name of Christ. Soon the persecution broke forth like a storm everywhere, and “at that time there was great persecution against the Church,” and it was scattered to the four winds, yet God overruled this seeming calamity to his glory. We rad “Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” With their hearts warmed by the fresh blood of their leaders, and their zeal fired by the love of Christ, no power on earth or in Hell could silence them in telling the message of salvation. Twenty-one brief chapters of Acts that followed this persecution is pulsating with the wonderful missionary spirit of the early Christians.

Philip plants a Church in Samaria, and then proclaims Jesus to the treasurer of that far-away land of Etheopia and thereby the gospel is made known in Africa. He then passes to Azetus and all the cities in order till he comes to Caesarea. Peter and John visit Samaria and evangelize many of the cities of that State. Soon Paul is converted in the City of Damascus and began at once to preach Jesus everywhere he set foot. If Iuke had been permitted to tell us of all the work of each one wtro was scattered everywhere it would have made one of the most interesting books ever written. Missionaries went to very point of the compass from that first Church and the plan outlined by Jesus when He said, “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth,” is effective beyond the dreams of the most optimistic souls. By the time the Gospel had reached Antioch of Syria, the number of Christians had reached into the hundred of thousands and there is no way to measure the extent and strength of the Church. The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the kingdom and it was destined to cover the earth. As we follow Paul and his faithful company of workers through Galatia, Asia Minor, into Europe on to Greece and Achaia and the islands of the sea, our minds stagger to comprehend the rapid growth of the Chruch against he odds of poverty, persecution and martyrdom.

II. Why This Rapid Growth: It would be well to study the question, “Why had the Church such rapid growth in those days?” If the work that brought about this wonderful success can be put in operation today then as certain as effect follows cause, we may again spread the Gospel as did they. If not, why not? Some might conclude that it was because miraculous power accompanied the preaching of the Word. We must admit that this brought many to hear the Word, yet God did not intend the miracles to be the power to reach the lost or he would have continued their use. The Gospel is the power of God to save and not miracles. I believe there were causes which may be applied today that will bring the same success as it did then. I shall mention a few of these causes.

(1) Their great faith in God and his promises. They had a faith that was unmoved by all the persecutions, threats and hardships that could be heaped upon them. They went into cities where you and I would not dare to go today, and where it looked as though they were casting pearls before swine, preached in parks, dungeons, jails and dwelling, even where death was hanging over them.

(2) Their Convictions: They were wholly converted to the Lord, and ready to forsake all for His name. Their love for Christ inspired them to tell everyone they met the wonderful story of Christ who died for them. We take our vacations and go everywhere seeking pleasure; they went everywhere preaching the Word. Salvation meant so much to them that they wanted o save every one else. Moreover!! they did not believe they could be saved unless they gave their lives in saving others.

(3) A Third Cause Of This Success Was The Liberality Of The Early Church. It has been recognized as the most liberal Church in the world. They sold possessions that this Gospel might be preached. If prosperity came they gave; if deep proverty overtook them they still gave, and begged the Church to accept their offering. Why don’t we give today as did they?

(4) The Purity Of The Church. The Church stood out before the world as a body of people honest and upright in their transactions, and pure in all their deeds and words. It was a high calling to be a member of the Church and the world respected such a people. The highter we life the standard of membership, the greater influence we will have and the more right thinking people will seek our fellowship.

(5) Prayer And Hard Work: When the Church becomes prayerless it becomes powerless also. This model Church was born during a great prayer meeting. Whatever they did in word and deed they first took it to God in prayer. There is a lifting power about prayer. By it they were lifted from discouragement and sorrow; and given renewed strength and hope to go forward. But with all the promises of God of comfort and help they knew nothing could be accomplished without hard work. So they worked at the job day and night “in season and out of season.” No farmer, business man, teacher, lawyer, doctor, mechanic, student or preacher will ever succeed in this calling without hard work. No Church can ever expect to make success without hard work. Every member of the Church should be a worker and if they are truly converted they cannot be happy without work. A working Church never finds time to stop to fuss. “There is no place in the Church for grumbling or complaining. Smile and boost; “Lift man Lift” would be a good motto for any Church I wonder if the church today is trying as hard to save souls as did the one in Paul’s day?

(6) The earnestness and boldness which they preached the Gospel. Their every soul was poured into every sermon and the people who heard them were made to feel their lost and condemned state and to tremble under the mighty power of the preachers. “I see Paul as he stands up day and night for three years in Ephesus with tears flowing freely down his cheeks and with marks of persecution on his body, boldly, earnestly and sympathetically telling of the wonderful love of Christ.

(7) Now, there was one other thing that had to do with their success. Many new congregations become missionary Churches, for we read that the congregations at Philippi and Thessalonica “sounded out the -Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in other places.” They began to do that soon after they were established.

Let us suppose that every congregation in America that has as many as fifty members would seek out a new location at once and place a good preacher there and support him until a new congregation was established in that field, and then teach the new congregation to plant another. The growth of the Church in afew years would excel anything since the days of the Apostles. With the help of God and the application of these principles used by the first Church, we would establish 10,000 new congregations in the pext ten years. Truly, “the field is white unto the har- test,” and the Church of Christ should catch the spirit of the early Church and follow their example to “Sound out the Word.” If this is done (and let us pray that it will be done) there would not be an idle preacher to be found and the call would be made for many more, and every saved man would try to save some one else.
Now, let us by tongue and pen, appeal to every congregation in America to reduce the causes of success to practice, and set the New Testament plan to work in each local congregation. Then we will begin to measure up to some degree with the Church of those days. With our splendid modes of travel, our wealth and our talents we should surpass them in growth. Oh, are we making the sacrifice we should? Are we doing our best?